Sep 21

FROM THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR "The Fruit Of The Spirit"

Updated: Sep 23

My Dearest Fellow Travelers To Heaven,

October can be a frustrating month for pastors and parents! While we may try to get others thinking about Luther and the Reformation, all kids think about is Halloween and candy! Luther and other reformers did not want to start a whole new church; they wanted to reform the church they already had - they wanted to get things back the way they used to be. When Adam and Eve sinned, God did not want to start all over again - God wanted to reform them, to get them and their offspring back to the way they used to be before sin deformed them. But as sinners, they were spiritually dead, as all their offspring would be. So the first thing God does for dead sinners is to make them spiritually alive again.

Spiritual rebirth happens as soon as a dead sinner receives the gift of faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. That's the first step and God does it all. The second step is for reborn sinners to restore the image and likeness of God lost because of sin. Rebirth happens in an instant, but restoring the image and likeness of God is a lifelong process we call sanctification. God does that, too, but now God wants and expects us to work with Him in this process of spiritual growth that will only be completed in Heaven. Here on earth we work with the Holy Spirit to produce an increasing harvest of the fruit of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The more these spiritual qualities are present in our lives, the more like God we become and the more God can use us to bless others.

Follow the guidelines for the Fruit of the Spirit exercise below. Write the date you complete it and also a date about 6 months from then - that's when you will check your progress. Continue to use all 3 legs of your stool (piety, study, and action). The joy of your spiritual growth will be sweeter than all the candy you can eat!

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - Galatians 5:22-23. Below is the list of spiritual gifts. Following each gift is a rating from "0" (not present at all) to "10" (completely present).

"x" the rating for each gift to show how much that gift is present in your life right now
circle the rating for each gift to show how much more of the gift you hope to have in your life within the next 6 months
Answer the two questions below the graph for each gift
Pray and grow!

Love 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A) What is the devil using to keep the level of this gift as low as it is now?