I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
The Fruit the Spirit Produces
Paul, the author of the letter of Galatians, spends a large part of his letter explaining what it means to live by the Spirit of God. He describes what it looks like for Christians to live according to the Spirit, and also what it looks like to live apart from the Spirit.
One of the key distinctions for those who live according to the Spirit of God is that they produce certain external qualities. Paul calls these the fruit of the Spirit.
Just like an apple tree produces apples and a vineyard produces grapes, so we as Christians are also meant to produce certain things in our life.
Paul lists nine character qualities that should be evident in someone’s life if they’re walking according to God’s ways. They are:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
Just like the fruit of a tree isn’t meant for the tree itself, but for others, so also the fruit of the Spirit in a Christian’s life is not meant for themselves, but for others. We are to love one another, take joy in one another, have peace with one another, and be kind to one another.
The fruit of the Spirit is meant to be grown and harvested within Christian community rather than in isolation. We were created for a relationship with God and others.
Take a look at the list of fruit the Spirit produces in a Christian’s life. Be honest and ask yourself: Which fruit am I producing? Which fruit am I not producing, and why am I not producing it? Take note of a few small steps you can take to grow closer to God in those areas of your life and produce more fruit.
A Unifying Mission
Almost every successful company or group in history has shared something in common: they all had a unifying mission.
Missions are critical in not only aligning objectives, but also unifying a large group of people toward one purpose.
As Christians, we all share the same mission. We are unified in following Christ. We're saved by His blood (Romans 5:9) and we're all called to make disciples in His name (Matthew 28:19).
And yet, even among Christians, there is so much division and disunity.
Part of the division comes from our lack of clarity and commitment to the mission that is defined in Scripture. And to make it worse, we are sinful people, and sin naturally causes division in our lives and relationships.
But, the Psalmist in Psalm 133:1 reflects on how good it is when the people of God live together in unity. There is something powerful that happens among Christians when we are unified.
Unity is not putting away our differences, because there would be no need to be ...
