Life as a Christian Woman

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Ah, faith. So easy to understand, nearly impossible to live. We all strive to have the “Faith of our Fathers,” to live without doubts in our Christian walk. And yet we all struggle with faith at one time or another.

In Mark, there is a story of Jesus casting out a demon. A man had brought his son to the disciples, who were unable to cast out the demon because of their lack of faith. Christ chides them,

O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.
Mark 9:19

The man brings his son to the Lord. The son immediately falls to the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. The father asks Jesus if he can do anything to help. Jesus reply?

‘If you can’? Everything is possible for him who believes. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9: 23-24

Jesus drove the spirit from the boy, and he was healed. But the sentence the father spoke to our Lord is so amazing, and so rich with meaning… “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Doesn’t that just about sum up all of us? We as Christians believe. We believe in God, we believe the Bible is His holy word. And yet, we need help with our unbelief, our inability to completely trust Him with everything.

He told them, “Because of your lack of faith. I tell you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20

A mustard seed is tiny, and yet if we could exhibit that little bit of faith, we could change the world. We try. We pray. And yet, we struggle.

I want to share a personal story with you (I guess we’ve all known each other long enough now, huh?). I have always felt that I was going to have a baby. From an early age, I believed that God had put that love in my heart to raise a child. But as my life went on, things weren’t going according to my plan. In fact, I didn’t find the love of my life and marry until I was 40. Over the next four years I suffered several miscarriages, and was told by doctors that it appeared I would never be able to have children. That went against what I had felt God telling me for years, and what my husband had felt in his heart, as well. But finally, after a miscarriage in 2002, I told Doug, “That’s it, no more trying.” I had given up. I had no more faith that God was going to follow through with what I felt He had told me years earlier.

So I went upstairs and sat down. And then I heard a voice, as real as could be, yet no one was in the room with me. The voice said, “You’re going to have a baby, it’s going to be a girl, and you’re going to name her Emilee Faith.”

I looked around. I didn’t know where the “voice” was coming from. What I did know was that the voice was from God, whether He had sent an angel to speak to me, or what, but I did know that the voice sounded a bit ticked off.

And then a verse popped into my head, a verse I’m not sure I had ever heard before, and one I’m sure I had never paid any attention to:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

Six weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. I told my husband, and he looked at me and said, “I know.”

Seems like God was working on both of us!

I had lost my faith that God would fulfill a promise, yet His promise remained.

And yet, I still doubted God! I told my husband I didn’t want to tell anyone about the pregnancy, unless we lost another. But my husband, who’s faith outshines mine, said, “If we don’t tell anyone, how can they pray for us?”

Faith is elusive, even in the presence of a miracle!

To make a long story short, nine months later I gave birth to Emilee Faith. God fulfilled His promise, even though my faith was weak, and is still weak.

Our God is a faithful God, shouldn’t we return the favor?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

From the day we are born, we are told to “Be good.” But what does that mean? Does it mean to behave? To obey? To be good to others? We use the word so much (”That was a good movie!” “That dinner was good.”), that is has lost some of it’s importance in today’s world. Somehow, good just isn’t “good” enough anymore!

In Romans, Paul gives us an idea of the depth of the word when applied correctly:

Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”
Romans 15:14

When Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he was telling them what he expected of them, giving them something to aim for in developing themselves and the church. But when he lists the attributes, goodness comes first. It seems he is making it a foundation, a key among the other virtues of knowledge and admonishment.

In I Corinthians, Paul goes on to outline goodness in a more obvious manner.

Knowledge puffs up. I Corinthians 8:1

Straight to the point, huh?

Knowledge can turn a person into a self-righteous know-in-all. My dad used to say, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of knowledge can kill you.”

But as Paul outlines it, knowledge combined with goodness is tempered. Goodness is always beneficial, there is no negative associated with it. If one has knowledge and it is combined with goodness, great things can happen. Think of someone who has the knowledge to make millions. That in and of itself means little. But add goodness to the mix, and suddenly you have someone who sees need and wants to fill it.

I believe that all of us have goodness in us, but like any muscle in our bodies, if we don’t use that goodness, it will shrivel. We won’t know how to use it. God’s ability to do good is not hampered in any way, but life’s little bombshells will stop us. It is hard to spread goodness when you are angry.

But according to Matthew 5:45, God “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” We may be evil creatures, but God does this kindness out of His goodness.

We should use this gift of the spirit to do for the world, as God would have us to do. Do unto others, as He has done for us.

Think about it… is this why Jesus is referred to as “The Good Shepherd?” I doubt it was because he was good at herding sheep! The word “Good” takes on a whole new meaning when looked at in this light, in the light of the gift of the spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Today let’s look at one of the most powerful of the Fruits, gentleness.

Right now, I imagine you are trying to figure out how gentleness can be a force of strength. The reality is that gentleness, softness, tenderness, allows others to grow and learn. Gentleness has been described as love in action. It produces an aura of allowing others to express themselves. It is non-judgemental, but seeks to provide a place of safety for others.

As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but we were gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children.
1 Thessalonians 2:6-7

Gentleness goes on to project wisdom. Gentleness produces humility and sensitivity. A gentle spirit will not want to fan the flames of gossip, or allow selfish ambition to cloud one’s judgement. Those traits are inspired by Satan, and he uses them to produce evil among us. But gentleness rebukes those attributes, and allows the spirit to grow in love, to teach in love.

Timothy was a teacher who helped others learn when they were confused regarding God’s truth. Paul advised Timothy to be humble when explaining God’s truth to those who needed to hear it, to avoid foolish arguments. In 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to beware of quarrels and to be kind to all, allowing a gentle spirit to come out.

In James, we see that wisdom is a gift from God, and that this wisdom is pure in gentleness.

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere.
James 3:17

The gift of gentleness can lead others to follow Christ, to see Christ in us, through us. That makes it a powerful fruit of the spirit, indeed! Today, as you walk with God, as you walk among others, use this fruit to allow others see Christ’s gentleness and love. Allow others to shine and bask in that love.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Of all the gifts of the Spirit, I think I forgot to open this one. Patience is not my strength, and judging by the faces of people in lines, honking horns in traffic, and parents rushing children around, I don’t think I am alone.

God is our greatest example of patience. Face it, we must drive Him up the proverbial Heavenly wall! But he is so long-suffering, so steadfast in His love for us.

They refused to listen, and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and full of unfailing love and mercy. You did not abandon them.
Nehemiah 9:17

But what about our patience? Patience is developed through waiting and hardships. Kind of a “you might as well be patient because you are going to have to wait, anyway” kind of teaching.

Every hardship we Christians face will have a positive outcome at some point. It may take years, but our reward is not of this world. We may be persecuted. We may suffer illness, but we will be made whole.

Frankly, not what any of us wants to hear, huh? We are human, we want our reward here and now. We want the praises of our fellow humans. We want our egos stroked and the spotlight to shine brightly on us.

But think ahead. Put your earthly desires on the back burner for a moment. In other words… BE PATIENT OF SPIRIT!

Years ago I read an advice column. A reader had written asking if it was ok for him to seek companionship, to have an affair. His wife had suffered a stroke and was an invalid. He missed the closeness of marriage and wanted to seek it outside of marriage, even though his wife was still alive. As you may expect, hundreds of readers wrote in with their own responses. But one has stuck out in my mind ever since, and I think it is a great example of the Holy Spirit manifesting itself through patience.

One man wrote that his wife had been disabled and very ill for more than 20 years. The sexual part of their relationship had ended long ago. Had he been tempted? Yes. Had he succumbed to that temptation? No.

His reason?

He said that when he dies, when he appears before God in Heaven, he longs to hear the Father say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

What a goal! Allow the Spirit to fill you with patience, to take rest in the waiting and comfort through the hardship. The final reward will be worth it.