Life as a Christian Woman

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

Ah, love. From the earliest moments of our lives, we are meant to feel it, to bask in it. We are told fairy tales of love conquering all. Happily ever after, we are read. As teenagers, the search for love begins. The music we listen to tells us “All you need is love.”

We want it, when we have it we want more. And television, music, movies… they combine to make it appear so wonderful, and so attainable.

Then life steps in.

And suddenly we feel love is always just out of reach. That guy that you so desperately have a crush on? He likes your best friend. That man that you thought was Mr. Right, that you gave your heart to? Mr. Wrong. The person you planned to spend the rest of your life with? Not who you thought he was.

Maybe love isn’t so grand after all, right?

But yet, in the midst of it all, there is God. God doesn’t just love us, He IS love. He defines love. All love that comes through Him is perfect. He want to share it with us, to have us enter into His perfect love, feel that love, and share that love with others.

Think on that for a moment. Perfect love. God’s perfect love compelled Him to send His own son to our sin-filled world, so we could see love in human form. And in Christ’s crucifixion, we see love in action: Jesus’ love for us, that he would die for us. Jesus’ love for his Father, that he would do His Father’s bidding willingly. And God’s love for us, that we may know eternal life through Christ’s death, suffering, and resurrection.

The phrase at the top of the page says, “God is Love.” We’ve heard it all our lives. Frankly, we throw it out there so much that maybe it has lost meaning in our hearts. But that doesn’t make it any less meaningful.

Break it down…
God: The Almighty Father.
Is: embodies.
Love: the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.

God doesn’t just love. GOD IS LOVE!

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13

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

We celebrate Thanksgiving. We give thanks before meals. We thank others for gifts on our birthdays and at Christmas.

But what does it mean to be truly thankful? For example, how many times have you thanked someone for a gift, when what you are really thinking is, “What in the world were you thinking when you got this for me?”

To be truly thankful, in the Biblical sense, is to look beyond a gift. We should be thankful in everything… EVERYTHING! The Psalmist said,

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening.
Psalm 92:1-2

David went to far as to appoint certain Levites to give constant, continual praise and thanks to God.

Thanks to God should never be relegated to before meal prayers, or bedtime talks with God. Thanksgiving should be a constant in our daily routine. We take His blessings for granted, and we minimize Him when we fit our thanks to Him into a little box, a routine that we rush to get through.

It drives me totally crazy to hear someone say, “Thank God!” for something like a win in a game, or something along those lines. These are empty words when spoken in haste, without the true thankfulness that the Spirit bestows on us. Once again, it minimizes the process of thanking our Father.

If God is in everything (and He most assuredly is), then our thanks to Him should be in everything, as well. In fact, one of the first identifiers in rejecting God is to forget to thank Him. We shouldn’t throw out those little one-liners and let that be the end of it. He deserves more. He deserves all!

We need to thank God for everything that He has placed in our lives, because there is a reason for for everything in our lives. So we should not stop at thanking Him for our “toys” as my little girl should say. There should be thanks in things that are perhaps sad, things we don’t understand.

I have a friend who has a strong and abiding faith. She is ravaged by cancer, and yet thanks God daily for her condition. Her reasoning? God is teaching her through the cancer, teaching her husband and her children. She looks beyond the sadness for a greater good.

Have you lost someone you loved? A parent, a child? The grief can be overwhelming. In those times when sadness threatens to tear you heart to shreds, turn the grief into a prayer of thankfulness. Thankfulness that God placed that person in your life, even if it was for a brief period. In the bigger picture, God’s grace in planting those folks in your life made a difference that lasts beyond their years, beyond your years.
Finally, we fail to thank God for the most important gift that we will ever receive, the gift of salvation. He gave us this gift freely, all we had to do was accept it. And yet, once we have become believers, we rarely think to thank our God for this gift.

God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation is truly the gift that keeps on giving… for eternity! As Paul points out in his letter to the Ephesians, God gave it to us, not because we deserved it, but because He wanted to.

When you think about all that we have and realize that all of it is through God’s love for us, you should be humbled… and very, very thankful!

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

Kindness is related to gentleness and goodness. The three all join together to give us a vision of Christ and His love for us, how he treats us. His unconditional caring for us.

Christ Himself said:

Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked.
Luke 6:35

Doesn’t every word of that go against human nature? Love those who want to destroy us? How? Why? But the reality is that God loves us in spite of ourselves, and that is what we are called to do. Easier said that done, huh?

Now don’t think for one minute that we as Christians aren’t allowed to defend ourselves against those who would harm us. This verse doesn’t mean that we sit back passively and allow someone to destroy us. But we must love them, not hate them. Hate doesn’t destroy those who hurt us, it destroys us! So in Christian kindness, we must love them even as we set boundaries to protect ourselves.

Genuine kindness, true kindness that comes as a gift of the spirit, is our response to God’s love in us.

If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
Romans 12:14

We may not truly love the person. One person alone may not be able to have that capacity, but the body of Christ, the Christian community, can.

Find those that need your love. Those that are lost, consumed by anger. Be kind to them. Love them as Christ loves us.

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.

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

Peace.

It’s a word we hear every day. We all want peace, in our world and in our hearts. But how do we achieve it? What are the by-products when the Holy Spirit endows us with peace?

Peace is a feeling of wholeness, a calming of conflict within us. Have you ever been torn up about something for so long it becomes a part of your day-to-day life? But you know you are doing right, that you have not sinned. A sense of peace settles in your heart. You may still have the struggle, but there is a sense of calm in knowing that you are following God’s will.

We also achieve peace when we have reconciliation with God. When we are at peace with God and his desires for us, we feel a sense of tranquility, sin no longer blocks our path toward God. Paul spoke of this in Romans.

Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Romans 5:1

Peace with God is possible because of Christ’s death on the cross, His intercession for us in death and resurrection.

Finally, peace is a by-product of trust… trust in God, faith in His word. One of my favorite scriptures is found in Genesis. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, has given birth at a ripe old age (not many of us expect to give birth at 90 years old!). And when she was actually blessed with a son (Isaac), she was amazed and full of joy at his birth.

Who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given
Abraham a son in his old age!
Genesis 21:7

She had given up and no peace when she was filled with doubt and worry. But when faced with the reality of God’s promise, doubt and worry were replaced with peace of heart (a peace she could have relished had she only had the faith in God’s promise!).

So seek out peace within yourself. Seek out God, seek His 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

I thought I would take the next week or so to do a series on the fruits of the spirit, and I’m going to start with Joy.

Real joy, real deep down, feel it in your toes, is a wonderful thing. You feel fulfilled, happy. You want to share it with everyone. You can’t contain it, and you don’t want to.

But what brings real joy to a Christian? Joy begins in worship, it grows out of fellowship with God. Worship involves many components: confession, prayer, introspection, meditation. But it involves celebration, as well. In the Old Testament, Israel seemed to favor celebration. God encourages joy, He encourages celebrating Him, celebrating who He is and what He has done for us, for His people.

Being in God’s presence alone is cause for joy beyond comprehension. What right to we have to approach Him? None! But He longs for us to share His presence. David, in the Psalms, sings of his joy when in communion with the Father.

I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises! My body rests in safety.
Psalm 16:8-9

Joy from God comes no matter what the conditions of our lives. Even though he was jailed, Paul found reason to celebrate. His attitude teaches us so many lessons, but most importantly to be joyful in all circumstance, because God is there with us.

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again — rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

Christ dwelled in Paul, and ultimate joy comes from Christ in us.

Finally, when the Holy Spirit provides us with these fruits. Galatians 5:22-23 (cited above) speaks of the Holy Spirit, and when the Spirit controls our lives these fruits will be produced.

So be joyful in the Lord! Let the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifest itself in you, be joyful, and let the joy of the Lord shine from you onto others!