What can help us to grow faithfulness? In addition to removing the four roadblocks we talked about in the previous post, here are four suggestions that might help you grow faithfulness in your life. Serve people. Is there someone you have a bad relationship with? Serve them. Reach out in kindness to them. Sometimes itContinue reading “Four suggestions to grow faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 5”
Monthly Archives: June 2022
Four roadblocks to faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 4
What causes people to not be faithful? See if any of these potential roadblocks resonate with you. Roadblock #1: Fear – If we have an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone, to step out in faith, we can be afraid that we can’t handle it. We hold back rather than trust God toContinue reading “Four roadblocks to faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 4”
The surprising definition of faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 3
In the previous post we learned that for faith to be true faith, it must lead to a life that is faithful. And that brings us to the surprising definition of the word Paul used in the Fruit of the Spirit passage. The word Paul used in Galatians 5:22, “faithfulness,” is defined as “the stateContinue reading “The surprising definition of faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 3”
The important difference between faith and faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 2
In the previous post we studied a couple passages of Scripture that declare God’s faithfulness. You might read those verses and think, “Okay, I see the words of Scripture, but based on what is happening in my life, it doesn’t always seem that God is faithful.” If we’re honest, we can feel like lamenters inContinue reading “The important difference between faith and faithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 2”
Faithful: its who God is – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 1
I follow the Washington Commanders. In our church we have many Eagles fans and some Steelers fans. I follow the Commanders because my dad went to seminary in Washington DC, and there he caught the bug and passed it on to me and my brother. In the 80s and 90s, it was easy to beContinue reading “Faithful: its who God is – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Part 1”
We need faith that is more than faith – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Preview
What do you think of the name of my church: “Faith Church”? I checked the historical records we have on file, and they begin in 1968 after the name of the church was already decided. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a transcript of the discussion that led to our name “Faith”? Why did whoever pickedContinue reading “We need faith that is more than faith – Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, Preview”
What I learned about gentleness when I got bit in the hand – Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness, Preview
A couple weeks ago I was at my son and daughter-in-law’s house playing tug-of-war with their huge German Shepherd, Kash. He grips one end of his toy stuffed-animal, while I hold the other end, usually tugging side to side. Kash is way better at the game than me. If he wants to hold tight, there isContinue reading “What I learned about gentleness when I got bit in the hand – Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness, Preview”
Some practical steps to increase your goodness – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 5
As we have learned with the other qualities in the Fruit of the Spirit, we can grow goodness by walking in step with the Spirit, by spending time with him, by asking him repeatedly, “Spirit, infuse me with your goodness.” This is what Jesus was teaching when he talked about abiding in him, remaining inContinue reading “Some practical steps to increase your goodness – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 5”
The complexity of defining goodness – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 4
This week we are studying the quality of goodness, which is listed in the Fruit of the Spirit. What we’re going to find is that defining goodness is not as simple as it might seem. We learned in the previous post that numerous Psalms declare that God is good. In today’s post we jump overContinue reading “The complexity of defining goodness – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 4”
The first and most important step to growing goodness in our lives – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 3
During my first few years as senior pastor, I remember a thought I had nearly every Sunday when I was studying for and writing the sermon each week. I thought, “the people don’t need to hear this…they already know it…look at them…look how good they are. What could this sermon possibly say that they needContinue reading “The first and most important step to growing goodness in our lives – Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Part 3”
Engaging Scripture 