Why do you stare from without at the very small particle that is in your brother's eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam of timber that is in your own eye?
It is important to understand that most of us have a problem with fault finding. A lot of times, we point our finger at the faults of our family and friends, but we have faults, too. Instead of continuing our fault finding, it is important to look inward and focus our attention on fixing our imperfections. After we begin to change, people will see the change and begin to work on their own problems. We need to set the example for those around us and not just sit and complain about others.
We all need to understand the importance of looking inward and helping ourselves.
There are things we need to do before we start helping others with their problems. People who help others cannot be successful without the Fruits of the Spirit.
The Fruits of the Spirit enable us to lead others without judgment. This doesn't mean we have to do everything perfect, but it does mean we need to constantly work on ourselves while lending a hand to others. When a critical spirit arises, we need to once again look at our own hearts and get rid of that critical spirit immediately.
This is something that I have learned, and I am still working on this lesson. Sometimes, I get frustrated with other people's imperfections. This is when I realized that I need to stop myself and focus on what I need to fix. Focusing inward will help me figure out what I need to do to reach my goals.
When I am focusing on others faults, I am not working on personal development so I can reach my goals. In these moments, I've realized that I've stopped moving forward and I'm stuck. If I don't start moving forward again, I become depressed and frustrated. For my goals and personal success, this is not a good situation.
What I realized is that I needed work on my life, so I could produce the right kind of fruit. As I looked at the way I was living, I decided to look at the fruit in my life. I found that there was a lack of the fruits of the Spirit, but I also realized that I did not understand the fruits of the Spirit. They are important to live the life that I was created to live. Without the fruits of the Spirit, I produced the fruits of the flesh.
In the last year, I have begun to study and apply the fruits of the Spirit to my life, but I have found that the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit cannot live together in harmony. They wage war against each other, so I live in a battle zone. This battle zone is inside me, so I need to learn how to live by the Spirit and conquer the fruits of the flesh. Of course, I am not quite there yet, but I am on my way.
The fruits of the Spirit produce success in our lives. Unfortunately, many times, we produce the fruits of the flesh. What we need to understand is that the fruits of the flesh do not produce success. Since the fruits of flesh are the opposite of fruits of the Spirit, the fruits of the flesh breed failure.
When we look at the list of fruits above, it may seem too simplistic. Living by the fruits of the Spirit is anything but simplistic. Due to sin, it is a challenge to live by the fruits of the Spirit. What comes naturally is living by the fruits of the flesh.
What are the fruits of the flesh? They are the exact opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. Below are a list of the fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of the flesh:
Fruits of the Spirit Fruits of the flesh
Love Hate
Joy Sadness
Peace Turbulence
Patience Frustration
Kindness Rudeness
Goodness Meanness
Faithfulness Disloyalty
Gentleness Discourtesy
Self-control Chaos
Love
Love is important to all humans, but many of us never truly learn to give love. As I Corinthians 13: 14, 15 says, "Love is enduring, patient, kind, never envious, never jealous, never boastful or vainglorious, and is not haughty. It is also not conceited, rude, and it does not act unbecomingly. Under no circumstances does love insist on its own rights or its own way, and love is not touchy or fretful or resentful."
There are times when I look at this list and know that I've done the negative things and failed to incorporate the positive ones. It takes practice to love the way we should. Each time we love someone, we should get better at enduring, patience, and kindness and stay as far away from conceit, rudeness, and acting unbecomingly.
The last part of verse 15 is hard for most of us to understand: "…it takes no account of evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong." This just doesn't seem fair. We should be able to keep a running list of wrongs done to us. Yet, if we really want to love, we need to learn forgiveness. It is vital to our success and happiness. Forgiveness is freedom to us and the person who has offended us.
Joy
Joy isn't like happiness. Happiness comes from good things happening to us. Joy is internal and is gained by hope. Our hope is that suffering and tribulation will only last a short time. Prayer is vital to developing joy. When we are lacking joy, we need to learn how to pray constantly. This kind of prayer occurs while we work throughout your day. We need to pray while doing dishes, on the way to work, as we run errand, and as we drift off to sleep at night.
If we suffer from depression, we welcome joy when it comes. It is hard to accept joy when depressive moments make it hard to get out of bed. At these times, we need to focus on the hope that is promised in God's Word. He has given us hope for a great future, but we need to accept and receive that hope and future.
Peace
Wow, the Bible says that we are to do more than just want peace. When things are chaotic, we desire peace in our lives, but we want peace to just drop into our laps. This is not God's desire for our lives. He wants us to work on peace and instigate peace with God, others, and ourselves.
One way I pursue peace is to refrain from arguing back with someone. It may be hard, but walking away from an argument is a great way to keep peace in your life. Winning an argument may seem sweet at the time, but the way we feel after the fight drains all our peace.
Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam of timber in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your won eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother's eye."
Matthew 7:3-5
You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your won eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother's eye."
Matthew 7:3-5
It is important to understand that most of us have a problem with fault finding. A lot of times, we point our finger at the faults of our family and friends, but we have faults, too. Instead of continuing our fault finding, it is important to look inward and focus our attention on fixing our imperfections. After we begin to change, people will see the change and begin to work on their own problems. We need to set the example for those around us and not just sit and complain about others.
We all need to understand the importance of looking inward and helping ourselves.
There are things we need to do before we start helping others with their problems. People who help others cannot be successful without the Fruits of the Spirit.
The Fruits of the Spirit enable us to lead others without judgment. This doesn't mean we have to do everything perfect, but it does mean we need to constantly work on ourselves while lending a hand to others. When a critical spirit arises, we need to once again look at our own hearts and get rid of that critical spirit immediately.
My Own Experience
This is something that I have learned, and I am still working on this lesson. Sometimes, I get frustrated with other people's imperfections. This is when I realized that I need to stop myself and focus on what I need to fix. Focusing inward will help me figure out what I need to do to reach my goals.
When I am focusing on others faults, I am not working on personal development so I can reach my goals. In these moments, I've realized that I've stopped moving forward and I'm stuck. If I don't start moving forward again, I become depressed and frustrated. For my goals and personal success, this is not a good situation.
What I realized is that I needed work on my life, so I could produce the right kind of fruit. As I looked at the way I was living, I decided to look at the fruit in my life. I found that there was a lack of the fruits of the Spirit, but I also realized that I did not understand the fruits of the Spirit. They are important to live the life that I was created to live. Without the fruits of the Spirit, I produced the fruits of the flesh.
In the last year, I have begun to study and apply the fruits of the Spirit to my life, but I have found that the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit cannot live together in harmony. They wage war against each other, so I live in a battle zone. This battle zone is inside me, so I need to learn how to live by the Spirit and conquer the fruits of the flesh. Of course, I am not quite there yet, but I am on my way.
The fruits of the Spirit versus the fruits of the flesh
The fruits of the Spirit produce success in our lives. Unfortunately, many times, we produce the fruits of the flesh. What we need to understand is that the fruits of the flesh do not produce success. Since the fruits of flesh are the opposite of fruits of the Spirit, the fruits of the flesh breed failure.
"But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Galatians 5:22, 23
Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Galatians 5:22, 23
When we look at the list of fruits above, it may seem too simplistic. Living by the fruits of the Spirit is anything but simplistic. Due to sin, it is a challenge to live by the fruits of the Spirit. What comes naturally is living by the fruits of the flesh.
What are the fruits of the flesh? They are the exact opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. Below are a list of the fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of the flesh:
Fruits of the Spirit Fruits of the flesh
Love Hate
Joy Sadness
Peace Turbulence
Patience Frustration
Kindness Rudeness
Goodness Meanness
Faithfulness Disloyalty
Gentleness Discourtesy
Self-control Chaos
Changing the Fruits of the flesh to the Fruits of the Spirit
"What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God."
Eleanor Roosevelt
"What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God."
Eleanor Roosevelt
Love
"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride): it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong."
I Corinthians 13:4, 5
It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride): it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong."
I Corinthians 13:4, 5
Love is important to all humans, but many of us never truly learn to give love. As I Corinthians 13: 14, 15 says, "Love is enduring, patient, kind, never envious, never jealous, never boastful or vainglorious, and is not haughty. It is also not conceited, rude, and it does not act unbecomingly. Under no circumstances does love insist on its own rights or its own way, and love is not touchy or fretful or resentful."
There are times when I look at this list and know that I've done the negative things and failed to incorporate the positive ones. It takes practice to love the way we should. Each time we love someone, we should get better at enduring, patience, and kindness and stay as far away from conceit, rudeness, and acting unbecomingly.
The last part of verse 15 is hard for most of us to understand: "…it takes no account of evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong." This just doesn't seem fair. We should be able to keep a running list of wrongs done to us. Yet, if we really want to love, we need to learn forgiveness. It is vital to our success and happiness. Forgiveness is freedom to us and the person who has offended us.
Joy
"Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer."
Romans 12:12
Romans 12:12
Joy isn't like happiness. Happiness comes from good things happening to us. Joy is internal and is gained by hope. Our hope is that suffering and tribulation will only last a short time. Prayer is vital to developing joy. When we are lacking joy, we need to learn how to pray constantly. This kind of prayer occurs while we work throughout your day. We need to pray while doing dishes, on the way to work, as we run errand, and as we drift off to sleep at night.
If we suffer from depression, we welcome joy when it comes. It is hard to accept joy when depressive moments make it hard to get out of bed. At these times, we need to focus on the hope that is promised in God's Word. He has given us hope for a great future, but we need to accept and receive that hope and future.
Peace
"Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]"
I Peter 3:11
I Peter 3:11
Wow, the Bible says that we are to do more than just want peace. When things are chaotic, we desire peace in our lives, but we want peace to just drop into our laps. This is not God's desire for our lives. He wants us to work on peace and instigate peace with God, others, and ourselves.
One way I pursue peace is to refrain from arguing back with someone. It may be hard, but walking away from an argument is a great way to keep peace in your life. Winning an argument may seem sweet at the time, but the way we feel after the fight drains all our peace.
