Fruits of the Spirit
Patience, Kindness, Generosity
Galatians 5: 16-22
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify
the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is
contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19 The acts of the
sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish
ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and
desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Last time…
Love joy peace…Everything hinges on love, joy isn’t that
giddy happiness, but rather acknowledging and experiencing God as the source of
our delight and the satisfaction of our life, and finally, last week we talked
about peace admitting that we can all use a lot more peace.
But before we continue I need to say this, we can’t respond
with love, joy, peace or any of the other fruits of the spirit if we are still
living in the flesh, there’s two ways to live. And I want to show that video
clip from the movie Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt again. (Clip) I had some
requests to show it again.
"There are two ways through life: the way of nature and the way of grace. You
have to choose which one you'll follow. Grace doesn't try to please itself.
Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries.
Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord
it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the
world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things. The nuns
taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end."
The way of grace is living the fruits of the Spirit, this
week we’ll be looking at our next three patience, kindness, and generosity.
Patience
Regardless of where we are at we can all use more patience. There
are lots of occasions we need to be patient…if you have ever dealt with a
teenager, if you have ever dealt with your parents, the DMV, the government,
dealing with healthcare, making a customer service call to any company, but
sometimes our patience is in need of something more serious…sometimes our
inability to be patient gets someone hurt, or we embarrass ourselves or our
friends and family. Our anger or impatience can get the best of us and we
become unable to show love and compassion.
Here’s the definition: bearing provocation, annoyance,
misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without
complaint, anger, or the like.
The first part of patience is easy it’s the second part we
have a hard time with.
And Patience is an interesting one in our spiritual lives.
We have all been known to pray for or had someone ask to pray for them for
patience in given situations. But then someone will warn us, don’t pray for
patience! And why not? Because God will put you in situations where you need
patience. Someone challenged me to do some research on patience in the Bible
and that’s when I realized that we already have the gift of patience. We don’t
need to ask for it. We already have access to it at any point. We just have to
claim it.
Kindness
Is simply the desire to do good to others…pretty simple
right?
What does kindness look like? Does kindness mean being a
doormat?
If you are being bullied or abused…Jesus did not take
it…when his authority was questioned…he stood up for himself. Not in a violent,
confrontational way, but in a way that shows a desire to do good to others…responding
out of love with patience and kindness…
As I was preparing I was reminded of a recent hospital
visit…the RN was rude…ready to kick the person out of the hospital to a rehab
facility…claiming the patient had refused treatment and rehab…pain…myself and
the other friend in the room were about to explode…you could just feel the
tension building…but the patient showed love through her patience, kindness,
and generosity. Spoke with respect, spoke with humility. She effectively
diffused the situation with the fruits of the spirit.
Like the saying… “Kill them with kindness” actually
scriptural…
Proverbs 25
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty,
give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will
reward you.
Matthew 5: 43-45
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
Have you noticed what happens when you respond to a
situation with kindness? It diffuses the tension and catches the person off
guard. Some people are just looking to pick a fight. ‘Those looking to pick a
fight, probably aren’t in one.” Some people are like the garbage truck and just
looking for a place to dump. Regardless of who you encounter claim the fruit
and kill ‘em with kindness.
Generosity
Defined: freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or
character. Have you ever thought of someone who is not generous as being small
of mind and character? And that makes sense. I’ve notice that those who are
generous with their resources understand that their gifts are part of something
greater…a part of God’s plan to bring heaven to earth.
Another definition of course is:
Liberal in giving or sharing; unselfish
We talk often about generosity. That’s because, how generous
you are is a window to spirituality. This is an excellent way to measure how
much you are living in grace v. living in the world. And generosity is a lot
harder to fake. You can fake most of the gifts of the spirit, but you can’t
fake generosity. You either give of your resources or you don’t. People notice
a giver.
We are actually hard wired to give…recent study $100…
Generosity can take other forms…teaching Max to be last in
line.
Let’s think for a moment about the opposite of these 3
things? I think they would be intolerance, cruelty, and selfishness. Who here
wants to be known for this? No one-and yet there are times when we find
ourselves being all of these, maybe even at the same time, living in the flesh. But if we allow the negativity or our flesh
to rule our lives then that’s how we will see the world. It’s the duality of life
Grace v. Worldly. You always have a choice in how you respond.
Now I don’t know about you, but I am starting to notice a
pattern for myself. That each one of these pertains to my life and some areas
of growth for my own journey. I really need these things maybe in my driving
and the personal struggle I have with my driving habits. Shana once told me I
am a very offensive driver…I said thank you…come to find out she was not
complimenting me on my amazing driving skills…but rather that I was offending a
lot of people on the road.
And this week I was put into plenty of situations where I
could produce the fruits of patience kindness and generosity…some I did well
and some I did not. I’m learning to claim patience, kindness and generosity
more and more each day…my horn tends to get stuck…Lynda Fogg…at a light-double
tap…
So how do you claim the gifts of the Holy Spirit? How do you
claim any gift? Accept it, redeem it, know that it’s there…but you have to
trust the source. I’ve been waiting to share this email I got. I am about to be
a very wealthy man.
Your ID Won One Million Pounds With BRITISH TELECOM
PROMO.With Ticket No:3BTO2012 Send Your
Name:......Address:.......Phone:....Country.......To Our Secertary- Rev John
via email:( telecom@tnctr.com ) You are
to Copy the secertary email address and send your details to the claims
secertary mail address telecom@tnctr.com
Unlike my million pounds that will be delivered any day, I
can trust the source of the fruits of the spirit. God is trustworthy and I can bank
on the fruit always being there…I simply have to reach out and pick it.
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