Thursday, September 23, 2010

Self Control

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…”

Self-control is also known as Temperance in the King James Version, but it is the Greek work Enkrateia derived from the word “kratos” meaning “strength”. In order to walk in self-control, we must have power over our will. Self-control is a fruit of the “Spirit”, not a fruit of self-will. There is a will that is of ourselves and some have developed this will more than others. We refer to the strength to carry something out as our “willpower”. For example, someone who is addicted to smoking and is trying to quit, if they have enough willpower, they can eventually stop smoking. Then there are the others with a lack of willpower who just can’t seem to quit no matter how hard they try. People in themselves can accomplish things by their own willpower, but how much can our will take? Yes, we all have willpower, some can abstain from things, but for how long does the willpower remain? How much pressure will cause it to break?
In today’s society, self-control isn’t widely practiced. We are taught to give into our desires, our feelings, whatever we want to do, just DO IT! After all, it’s our life, we only have one, let’s live it to the max, let’s have fun, let’s do things that are out of the ordinary, let’s be wild and crazy, let’s be sporadic and unpredictable, let’s do things that please me! Drugs, alcohol, sex, curse, party, whatever it is, we don’t want to miss out, but here’s the thing - it’s widely believed that this lifestyle is fulfilling, it’s exciting, it’s fun! But it’s only fun for awhile…Sin has devastating results. You’ll see that the things I just mentioned are actually found earlier on in the Galatians 5 as being deeds of the flesh (it’s actually living out of control), and you’ll see in Romans 8 that the nature of the flesh is directly against the nature of the Spirit. See, as we walk according to the Spirit, as we are bearing this fruit, our desire to do the deeds of the flesh will diminish and eventually be naught. If you are caught in these things (not just these, any sin) and you would consider maybe one or some or all of these things to be habits, know this – there is freedom. There is power to walk in the self-control which is a fruit of the Spirit, to not be defeated and bound to the deeds of the flesh but to walk in the self-control that we were made to walk in.
Many people think that if we were to walk in self-control and not partake of these deeds of the flesh that our lives would be boring and nothing fun would ever happen, but it’s actually quite the opposite! The most fulfilling life ever to be lived is one that is bearing the fruit of the Spirit, but I’ll get into that later.
We must begin to control ourselves, to take control over the old nature that is crying out to do evil deeds, to partake of sin, to have “fun” and be satisfied…True satisfaction comes after we begin to walk in self-control, to walk in domination over those things, and to develop in more and more self-control every day.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Gentleness

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness…”

Like I said before, gentleness and kindness are very closely related.  When you think of a kind person, you often associate gentleness with them.  When they talk to others, they more often than not have a soft, soothing tone.  You don’t hear a gentle person yelling at the top of their lungs in your face “HEY YOU LOOK REALLY NICE TODAY!”  And these people are generally nice people.  Then again, gentleness is not just the tone of your voice either, understand this.  Gentleness has much to do with correction, discipline, things like these.  Gentleness is required in order to do these types of things correctly.
Take for example a parent disciplining their children.  This ought to be done in gentleness, however you see it all over the place children getting beat abusively by their father, typically, and then calling it discipline.  Well, that is actually counterproductive, that is, beating your children out of anger, or correcting someone when they’re wrong about something, doing it with anger, or with a sense of pride as if the one correcting is better and has every right to be impatient with the one who is being corrected.
When I was a child, I have no problem saying that I was spanked.  Why?  Because it certainly did teach me something.  My parents would discipline me in love, with gentleness – they would explain to me why I would be receiving the spanking and why this was needed.  Proverbs 13:24 says “He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently”.  Now you may say “What’s so gentle about your parents spanking you?”  How about this – it isn’t coming out in the form of a black eye!  And the fact that whoever is doing the correcting is doing it with gentleness, the one who is receiving correction will be MUCH MORE LIKELY to actually receive it and learn from it rather than continue in the wrong way and hold bitterness against the one who corrected.
We know that Jesus was gentle.  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”.  This passage clearly indicates that gentleness is of the heart and Galatians says it’s a fruit of the Spirit, so we know it’s not just words but a heart condition. 
If you’d say, “Man, I’m just not a gentle person…I’m mean, I’m rough, I want my heart to be right, I want to be gentle”.  Well I have good news for you – you can be.  Jesus told us to come to Him, to learn from Him.  How do we learn from Him.  Jesus is the Word made flesh.  Look into the Bible, that’s where you learn all about Him – that’s where it all starts.  So go to Him, go to the Word and learn from Him, He’ll teach you how to be gentle.  It’s another step to becoming just like Him!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Faithfulness

Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…” 

Faithfulness here is the Greek word Pistis which is defined in the Vine’s dictionary of Greek Words as “firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing”. Ever had someone tell you they would do something for you and they would say “you have my word”? Well, now they must prove it to you, to see if they’ll actually stick to their word, they’ll actually do it! Words are a dime a dozen nowadays and it’s sad to see how worthless words have become, but yet they are the most powerful thing! Anyway, you’re waiting to see if the person who gave you their word, pretty much promised you they would do it, is actually going to do it. What are you waiting to see? They’re faithfulness. Everybody can talk big, but what happens when rubber meets the road? Are they faithful to their word? Are they faithful to you?
In us is the faithfulness of the Spirit. I have mentioned before about the other fruit, but I can’t say it enough…It’s always a choice! It’s always a choice whether we will hold fast to what we say, if we’ll be faithful to our word. 
When you are first getting to know someone and it’s the first time they tell you they will do something for you and you are counting on them to do it, it may be hard to trust, but if they end up keeping their word, the trust grows, their word becomes more valuable, you see faithfulness in action here. If it happens this way over and over and over again, it’s like you can’t count on whatever they say, they’re gonna do, no exceptions, they are 100% faithful to their word.
Things have happened in our lives, people have told us things that they didn’t end up doing, we put our firm trust in them but they just didn’t come true and it ended up hurting our trust in them, they have become less faithful to their word. A lack of acting on your word will seriously damage and may even destroy people’s trust in you, and like I said, it’s because there hasn’t been enough emphasis on the importance of the words that come out of our mouth. But how about God? What can we say about His faithfulness?
Our Father gave us His Word, His Word that is full of truth, He actually is Truth itself! God has never, ever, spoken ONE LIE out of His mouth, but yet how many times do we have trouble trusting His Word to us, as if He was ever unfaithful to us? He is nothing but faithful and loving to us. Jeremiah 1:12 says “Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over My Word to perform it”. God is faithful, always and forever, and we have the ability to be just as faithful – Remember, it’s a choice.
If you’re track record is ugly in the area of faithfulness, turn it around! Repent and begin to watch your words very carefully, they are so so so valuable (I’ll do a blog on words later). You can speak truthfully, you can be faithful to perform the word that comes from your mouth, be very selective on what you say, don’t say you’ll do something if you won’t, it will hurt you. Always keep your word to God and to people, no matter what!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Goodness

Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness…”

The goodness found in this verse is the goodness that is expressed in action but at the same time is of the heart.  It is actually very closely related to the kindness I just posted about and the gentleness I will post about later, but I believe goodness to be a bit broader then kindness, however not any greater or lesser in value.
You may have heard it said that “So and so is a good person”, but what constitutes a good person as compared to a bad person?  Most would say that persons actions.  They’re a very nice person, always looking to help others, always does the right thing, they don’t lie, they don’t steal, they don’t cuss, whatever it happens to be.  To most, the more of these qualities they possess, the more “good” this person is…But it’s not a lack of acting badly that makes the person good, it’s the good action from a good heart that makes the person good.
Goodness will flow from a heart that is right.  Proverbs says “Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life”.  Whatever is in us is what will flow out of us.  What we are filled with, goodness or evil, will show itself through our words and our actions. 
True goodness is expressed in selfless actions.  Someone that is filled with goodness, bearing the fruit of goodness, will not do something for someone simply to profit themselves…A good person will do something for someone else even when there is absolutely no profit or gain for themselves, they just simply do it because it’s the right thing to do.  Some dismiss the idea of doing good for somebody if there isn’t immediate gain, or any gain that they can see, because they’re motives are selfish.  HOWEVER, there is absolutely, 100%, a profit for doing something for someone else even though it may not be seen.  First off, there is the inward satisfaction like “Wow, I just did something that I didn’t have to do for someone else, this feels good”, secondly there will be profit down the road for having a selfless attitude, a heart of goodness, and a lifestyle of giving without immediate reward, in this life and in the next.  It pays to walk in goodness!
It’s all about being a selfless person, just like Jesus.  Jesus was goodness in human form, He did good all the time, every time!  There is contentment and satisfaction in a life of goodness, goodness from the heart.