Let The Faithful Correct Me

I was getting ready to print individual pages of a document and when typing in which numbered pages I wanted printed, I accidentally typed a letter instead of a number. A warning popped up which said, "Unacceptable character." It caught me off guard at first because I didn't know what I had done to get the warning, but then I chuckled when I thought how interesting it would be if that popped up when our personality flaws reared their ugly heads. You know, when we say that cuss word we shouldn't have. When we gossip. When we're jealous. When we selfishly put ourselves before others. When we lie. When we have a short fuse. When we're impatient. The list goes on. During those moments, we could hear a whisper in our ear: "Unacceptable character."

The things is, we know what unacceptable character is. God tells us what the acceptable character traits are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity and self-control. Those are the fruits of the Spirit as explained by Paul in Galatians 5:22. But sometimes those unacceptable things slip out before we think. In Psalm 141:3 it says, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not turn my heart to any evil." And later in that Psalm in verse 5, "Let the faithful correct me." So if you have a brother or sister in Christ offering you counsel, lean in, listen, repent and implement.

Set yourself to a higher standard. We are God's children and therefore should behave as such. It's better if we catch ourselves and change before others do the intervening. And the best way to stay on top of that is to be in the Word. Be in prayer. Examine our ways against the ways of Christ. The only way you know what Godly behavior is if you read what God says it is. 

Be especially cautious to be of good character with your betrothed. Often we take advantage of that relationship, and they don't deserve it. Don't they deserve the very best part of you? So be sure your character reflects the Lord of love.

Discussion: What are some character traits you need to work on? What would help prevent you from slipping into bad character habits?

Prayer: Lord God, you showed us through your son Jesus how we are to behave. We pray, Father, that we imitate Him and show people through our behavior that we belong to you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

No Question

I have a Christian fish on my car. And a Bible verse (Deut. 6:5). And a cross hanging from my rearview mirror. And a bumper sticker of The River, Christian radio station. And a decal that says He>i. When you see my car, you should have no question the driver is a Christian.

There is a cross hanging outside our home. There are crosses all over the inside and Bibles in just about every room. There are Bible verses hanging on the walls and oftentimes Christian music playing in the stereo. When you come into our home, you should have no question Christians live here.

This should be the same case when you meet us ... you should have no question when watching us and speaking to us that we are Christians. We want it to be obvious. If someone accuses us of being Christian, we hope there will be plenty of evidence. And not just "Oh, she wears a cross necklace" or "They go to church every Sunday" or "I've caught him reading her Bible." We would prefer people catch us in the act of being a Christian. Loving someone, serving others, letting our speech reflect our faith.

We are living in a culture perpetually pulling us away from what God has called us to be ... reflecting those Fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as found in Galatians 5:22-23. Are you loving? Are you peaceful? Are you generous? Are you kind? Are you joyful? Are you patient? Are you faithful? Do you have self-control? Are you gentle? There may be one or more of those that you will say "no" to ... well, then, work on it.

We will have countless opportunities within our marriages and in our daily life to blow it. To not be godly. To not reflect Christ. We need to reach beyond our human failings and strive to be what God expects of us. We need to catch our minds when they traverse into spiritually unhealthy areas. We need to stop ourselves before we respond in unrighteous anger. We need to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Stop inappropriate responses and words from leaving your lips. Quash feelings of jealousy. Forgive over and over again. Love our enemies and pray for them. Care for the poor and sick. Visit the lonely. Love, love, love, love, love.

It doesn't matter what you stick on your car, hang in your house or wear on your body. What matters is what people see in you. The old hymn says, And they'll know are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love." Let there be no question.

Discussion: What evidence can people give to prove you are a Christian? Which of the Fruits of the Spirit do you need a little work on?

Prayer: Father, let not just our outward appearance, but also our inward heart be an advertisement of Your great love. Father, every day is a challenge. Help us remember to take our thoughts captive to You, praise and glorify You. In Jesus, Amen.

Spiritual Measurement

About this time every year, I write our family Christmas newsletter. I have been writing one since the mid-90s to tell our family and friends far from us what the Zs have been up to all year. Job changes, relocations, successes, challenges, milestones ... it's all in there. It is almost obsolete for most, since folks on Facebook can keep up with us all year, but it's still a fun microcosm of our year as a family. As we look back on old ones, we can see where we've been and how far we've come.

There is another sort of year end evaluation I like to do, too. It's a Spiritual Measurement. Every year, I had my Sunday School kids fill one out and would mail their last years answers to them in the New Year. The questions include:

• Do I spend time reading God’s Word and talking with Him daily?
• Do I look forward to fellowshipping with the Lord?
• What fruit of the Spirit is apparent in my life?
• Do I talk about Jesus with people who don’t know Him?
• How am I using my spiritual gift or gifts?
• Do I have a generous and giving spirit?
• How much better do I know God today than I did a year ago?

I found these questions in an Our Daily Bread deovtional written by Cindy Hess Kasper in 2006. It is interesting to see the answers from year to year to see, again, where we've been and how far we've come.

This may be an exercise the two of you will want to do either together or separately at the end of each year. Sure the newsletter if you want to, but the Spiritual Measurement for sure. And if you see that you are not making progress spiritually in an area, then perhaps focus on that in the new year. 

Discussion: As each other the questions above? What do you need improvement on? Do you plan on writing a newsletter at Christmas?

Prayer: Father, our journey to you includes so much growth and we pray that we can examine that growth yearly to know where are weaknesses that we may continue to improve and become more like Christ and where are strengths are that we may use them to your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

Keep in Step

Recently in a Bible study we led called "The Wesleyan Way," we had an activity where we were asked to examine Galatians 5. We were asked which of the fruits of Spirit listed in verses 22 and 23 could be used to combat the works of the flesh listed in verses 19-21. This passage of Scripture is listed below:

"Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things." 

When we did this activity we found that of all the fruits of the Spirit, one in particular worked for every single work of the flesh. Can you guess it? It's the last one listed above: self-control. 

Ahhh, self-control. Something we all can utilize, but do not always want to. Self-control in anger, eating, urges, habits, time, entertainment and the like. We have the ability to do it, but oftentimes we just don't. Think about alcohol and drug abuse ... what ended up as addictions, more often then not, started as choices.

There is a hilarious skit by Bob Newhart called "Stop It." It features a woman going for therapy to deal with several destructive behaviors and paralyzing thinking patterns. The doctor, played by Newhart, has a simple two-word answer for her. Stop it. (You can watch it here.) While it's comical and perhaps flippantly deals with real issues, the point is, God gave us free will, and that includes the ability to stop and make better choices.

We have told our kids since the very beginning, "You are responsible for every choice you make," and we asked them to carefully decide before making them if they were wise choices. You choose to be jealous. You choose to be angry. You choose to cuss. You choose to party hard. According to Paul's letter to the Galatians, you can make better choices. But notice, you aren't making those choices alone. Those fruits are of the Spirit, and it's by the Spirit we make them. You have the choice to respond in love, in joy, in peace, with patience, kindness and gentleness, with generosity, in faithfulness ... and in self-control.

In this journey in life you will have countless opportunities to fail. That may sound pessimistic, but it's reality. 1 Peter 5:8 states: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." He works overtime to try to get you to fail. Christ referred to this when talking to Peter in Luke 22:31 by saying that Satan asks to "sift all of you like wheat." So there will be trials and temptations your entire life.

So what is the best defense for this? Paul tells us just after the above verses in Galatians 5:25: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." With the indwelt Holy Spirit, we have at our access every moment of the day, guidance to make the right decisions. Isaiah 30:21 spoke of this: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” So ask Him. Count on Him. Make good choices.

Discussion: In what areas of your life or relationship do you need to exercise self-control? What are ways that you can implement it?

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit's sweet whisper guiding us to make the right choices. Help us maintain control in our lives, when we sometimes think we don't have any. Remind us that with you we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:31).