I've been going through the book "Stress Point" by Sarah Francis Martin and today's chapter was about using the fruit of the Spirit as a guideline for setting boundaries in our lives.
Galations 5:22-23 - "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"
She mentions that "when we are doing anything in life that keeps us from living out the fruit of the Spirit, God is displeased."
What does this look like in areas such as eating, drinking, working, exercising, shopping and in our conversations with our friends?
For me, it was staying in a job role that I no longer had peace about, which resulted in a lack of joy. To leave something that I had become so familiar with and the people who became my family during my working life was very hard to let go initially. However, I am slowly learning that this loss is nothing in comparison to the greater plans that God has for me ahead. In order for me to move forward into something new, I needed to let go first.
"God often waits for us to step out in faith - to begin moving without specific direction - before He provides the destination." - Tyler Braun
thought of the day:
ReplyDelete"fruit" not "fruits"...we need the Holy Spirit to produce this fruit - if we do it by ourselves, we sometimes pick the qualities we want to produce. Give up your life to Him and let the Holy Spirit work to produce the fruit :)