faithTHE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

LOVE JOY PEACE PATIENCE GENTLENESS FAITHFULNESS KINDNESS GOODNESS SELF- CONTROL

fullness

& self control

This is our final week in our “Fruit of the Spirit” series. We started with love, then joy, peace, patience, sensitivity (gentleness, kindness, goodness), and today we’ll wrap up with a look at faithfulness and self-control. As we approach holy week, take some time for personal reflection and consider how your life is bearing fruit - are these fruits evident?

"A faithful man who can find?" - Proverbs 20:6”

“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” - Matthew 5:37

We live in an "easy come, easy go" age. We dispose of water bottles, razors, rules, relationships, responsibilities, and even religions. Not only do we dispose of many things, we also seem to distrust everyone. It takes a stack of legal documents for a simple business transaction these days. Forget a friendly handshake sealing a deal: get it in writing, get it notarized, make multiple copies, put it in the vault, and keep a good attorney on retainer.

Whatever happened to faithfulness? To trust? To commitment? To integrity?

"What trait or flaw in other people's character do you find most difficult to tolerate?"

Some people in the room have been chronically unfaithful. Some have been fairly faithful. And some have been very faithful. But no matter where we are on the faithfulness scale, God loves us so much that He takes upon Himself the responsibility of transforming us into more faithful people. He has commissioned His Holy Spirit to root out unfaithfulness from our lives and to replace it with faithfulness.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

-Galatians 5:22-23

These days, it seems faithfulness has lost its importance. We would all probably have to strain our memories to think of people who have worked faithfully at the same company for 25 years. It's getting tougher and tougher to hold up examples of couples who have been happily married for 30 or 40 years. And the days when a professional athlete was committed to a team or club for a lifetime are long gone. We don't often hear about a friendship that spans a lifetime. Let's face it, faithfulness has fallen on hard times.

People describe unfaithfulness differently. Some say..."I hate it when people say one thing and do another." "It drives me crazy when people promise to come through and they fall through.""I can't stand it when people say 'count me in,' but when the chips are down they say 'count me out,'" Whatever the definition, these folks are describing unfaithfulness. They're describing a person who is undependable, disloyal, inconsistent, or not true to his/her word. I think we would all agree that unfaithfulness is not only distasteful, but it is a disease running rampant in our culture. "Faithfulness" almost sounds like a foreign word to many people today. Thousands of years ago Solomon said, "A faithful man who can find?" (Prov 20:6) I guess some things don't change over time. It is still hard to find a man or woman who is faithful.

TABLE DISCUSSIONIt's easy to point out all the unfaithfulness around us, but it's important to hold up examples of ordinary people who have been extraordinarily faithful through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

1. Describe in detail ONE of the following people who has modeled faithfulness to you: a family member, a teacher, a pastor or church leader, a friend.

2. What are some of the characteristics that marked this person's life?

The quality of being true, devoted, constant, loyal, stable, dependable, devoted. Steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound to by a pledge, duty or obligation. Unswerving allegiance.

faithfulness

● Faithfulness means you stick to a commitment after the shine wears off. ● Faithfulness means you keep your word even though complications arise and

promise-keeping costs you more than you thought it would. ● Faithfulness means you keep saying no to the temptation of cutting corners and taking

the easy way out. ● Faithfulness means you keep working through relational problems rather than

disposing of the relationship like yesterday's trash. ● Faithfulness means you see a project through to the bitter end. ● Faithfulness means you refuse to jump ship even when the waves of adversity are

splashing over the decks of your vocation, your ministry or your relationship with others.

● Faithfulness means you stay true to your relationship with Christ no matter the cost.

We all carry scars from times of unfaithfulness. We've all broken promises. We've all broken commitments to family, friends, and yes, even to God. We’ve all been hurt by the unfaithfulness of others, and we’ve hurt both others and ourselves with our own unfaithfulness. How many times have you left a Sunday service after making a commitment to God saying, "That's it. That activity/thought will no longer be part of my life. I mean it this time!", only to be right back at it 2 days later. We can all identify with what it means to be unfaithful.

“Great Is Thy faithfulness,Great Is Thy faithfulness,Morning by morning new mercies I see;All I have needed Thy hand hath providedGreat is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me!

-Thomas Chisolm

The first step in the process of God transforming you into a more faithful person is that the Holy Spirit will convince you of God's unfailing, unquestionable faithfulness toward you.

Growing up in church, the author would sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness," a hymn celebrating the depths of God's mercy and unwavering faithfulness to His children. Looking around and watching others sing, most of the kids would be looking around, winking at their friends, etc. The adolescents and college-age students would sort of mouth the words, while the young couples and the middle-aged people would be singing with some meaning and heart. But the older people were singing out from the top of their lungs and the depths of their heart, "All I had needed Thy hand has provided," and building into a crescendo at the end: "Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord into me!"

They sang with conviction because they had witnessed answers to hundreds of prayers over the course of their lives. They had experienced daring rescues by God during times of trouble ... unexpected blessings from God's hand … the fulfillment of God's promises over time. They HAD to sing because they had seen God’s faithfulness and had to tell others!

“ I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.”

- Psalm 89:1

King David was involved in a lot of hair-raising adventures early in his life. If you study the psalms David wrote near the end of his life, you’ll notice that one of the most identifiable themes in his writings is God's faithfulness and mercy. Psalm 89:1 reflects this assurance of God's faithfulness.

Over time, the Holy Spirit is going to convince you of the depth of God’s faithfulness. As that realization registers in your heart, the Spirit will turn to you and say, "Take the hint. God is faithful to you. Now you be faithful to others. Be as faithful as your Father is to you."

And then he will say, "I'll help you do it. When you don't have the strength, I'll give you the supernatural power that you could never have on your own. Depend on me and watch what I can do in your life."

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

-Ephesians 4:14-15

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1.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

-Luke 16:10

As Good As Our WordWe have all witnessed a wedding. The bride and groom stand at the altar before God, a pastor, family and friends and make a public vow to be faithful to their spouse. They give their word before heaven and earth! This is serious business.

God expects us to be faithful even in the little things. We don't have to make formal vows before God and witnesses for God to expect us to keep our word. When we say, "I'll do it," we better do it. When we say, "I'll be there," we better show up. When we give our word, people should have no question about what we mean. As Christ followers we should be as good as our word. This kind of faithfulness should not be seen as exceptional behavior of super-saints. It is simply the way God calls us to live out our faith ... faithfully! Over time, as the Holy Spirit gives you that additional realization of how faithful God is, can you guess what's going to happen? You will discover every area of your life changing in your desire to be faithful.

This also applies in the marketplace/workplace. "I'll have it for you by Monday. I'll get on it right away. I'll see to it personally. The check is on the mail." You can no longer say one thing and do another. You need to be as good as your word and faithful before God and others.

God has always dealt truthfully with you. He has never told you a lie. He isn't going to today,

and He never will in the future. He says, "If you trust Me, I'll forgive your sins. If you trust Me, I'll work in your life." He says, "If you trust Me, I'll take you home to heaven."

What we need to do is deal truthfully with God. ● Don't tell Him that you love Him on Sunday if you're going to curse Him on Monday. ● Don't make a promise that you're going to obey Him when you know you won't. ● Don't tell Him that you're going to go His way, carry out His calling and advance His

purposes when you're making preparations to go your own way.

TABLE DISCUSSION1. What hymn or worship song helps you

remember God's faithfulness, and what is it about this song that helps you focus on God's faithfulness in your life?

2. How can a lack of faithfulness have a negative impact in ONE of these areas:Friendships, family, faith, vocation

3. How can a deep commitment to faithfulness have a positive impact in one of these same areas?

Self-control“For the Spirit God gave us does not make

us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” -2 Timothy 1:7

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is

faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you

are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” -1 Cor. 10:13

It sounds so simple and straightforward, maybe even commonplace. It’s knowing you can, and deciding you won’t.

Self control: the ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires or the expression of them in one's behavior, especially in difficult situations.

It’s not a flashy concept or an especially attractive idea. It doesn’t turn heads or grab headlines. It can be as seemingly small as saying no to another Oreo, French fry, or milkshake — or another half hour on Netflix or Facebook — or it can feel as significant as living out a resounding yes to sobriety and sexual purity. It’s at the height of Christian virtue in a fallen world, and its exercise is quite simply one of the most difficult things you can ever learn to do.

Self-control — our hyphenated English is frank and functional. There’s no cloak of imagery or euphemistic pretense. No punches pulled, no poetic twist, no endearing irony. Self-control is simply that important, impressive, and nearly impossible practice of learning to maintain control of the beast of one’s own sinful passions. It means remaining master of your own domain not only in the hunky-dory, but also when faced with trial or temptation. Self-control may be the epitome of “easier said than done.”

What do we know about self-control? Article by David Mathis, Executive Editor desiringGod.org

It can be taughtWalter Mischel - marshmallow test (kids age 5, 15 mins). Preschoolers who waited had higher SAT scores, and in later years more advanced degrees, thinner, used fewer drugs, & coped better with stress.

If it’s ChristianAlongside love and godliness, self-control serves as a major aspect of Christian conduct in its highest form. For the born-again, our hearts are new, but the poison of indwelling sin still courses through our veins. Not only are there evil desires to renounce altogether, but good desires to keep in check and indulge only in appropriate ways.

“True self-control is not about bringing ourselves under our own control, but under the power of Christ.”

Heart, Mind & BodyBiblically, self-control, or lack thereof, goes to the deepest part of us: the heart. It begins with control of our emotions, and then includes our minds as well. Self-control is often paired with “sober-mindedness,” and in several places the language of “self-control” applies especially to the mind. Self-control is bodily and external as well. The apostle disciplines his body to “keep it under control.”

The question for the Christian, then, is this: If self-control is so significant — and if indeed it can be taught — then how do I go about pursuing it as a Christian?

The key to self-control is not inward, but upward. True self-control is a gift from above, produced in and through us by the Holy Spirit. Until we own that it is received from outside ourselves, rather than whipped up from within, the effort we give to control our own selves is credited to ourselves rather than God.

Christ ControlUltimately, our controlling ourselves is about being controlled by Christ. When “the love of Christ controls us” (2 Corinthians 5:14), when we embrace the truth that he is our sovereign, and God has “left nothing outside his control” (Hebrews 2:8), we can bask in the freedom that we need not muster our own strength to exercise self-control, but we can find strength in the strength of another. In Jesus, we have a source for true self-control far beyond that of ourselves.

God has been faithful to you. Be faithful to Him and show His faithfulness to others. How will you do this? With the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit filling your life. There is no other way.

When we are filled with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, He works in our hearts, His fruit grows in our lives and we see things change. We begin to learn how to treat others with love and dignity. We have a deep down sense of joy. We become patient and gentle. We find strength we never knew existed. We see people differently - from the mailman to the towel man at the gym to the paper boy. We learn to treat “common” people as VIPs.

In the Holy Spirit’s power, you can live a supernatural life that transforms every relationship you have.If you are willing to enter the war to build your character, reinforcements are already in place. The Holy Spirit is waiting to supernaturally give you the ability to develop the king of characters that bears the fruit of the Spirit.