Chapter 13: Sowing Good or Bad Seeds
Holy Father, It is Your Holy Spirit who lives in us and who enables us to grow in our love in You, our Joy in Jesus; our Peace in the midst of this world; long suffering when we are struck on every side; Goodness in the midst of the devil’s activity to make us bad or do bad things; Faith rather than fear or doubt or unbelief; Meekness so that we depend upon You: Temperance so we are balanced in our lives.
We believe You today that we have faith to produce these fruits as Your Spirit works with our spirit to grow them. Heavenly Father, we are determined that we are going to grow good fruit of the spirit every day with your help, guidance, strength and love. Amen.
In trials & tribulations of our everyday lives, we are planting seeds, whether we realize it or not. The seeds we plant can either be good or bad ones. It is a fact that in due season the seeds we sow each day of our lives are going to bring forth either good or bad fruit in days to come. "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith" (Colossians 3:12; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 13:7) "meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 6:10)
The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE. Only if we live in love can we fulfill the will of God in our lives. The believer must become love-driven, love inspired & love mastered (2 Corinthians 5:14). Without the fruit of the Spirit (LOVE), we are just religious noise (1 Corinthians 13:1).
1. Joy is love’s strength.
2. Peace is love’s security.
3. Long-suffering is love’s patience.
4. Gentleness is love’s conduct.
5. Goodness is love’s character.
6. Faith is love’s confidence.
7. Meekness is love’s humility.
8. Temperance is love’s victory.
“Against such there is no law.
There were times we didn’t let the love of God shine in us. We have asked God to plant His love in us in such a profound & powerful way that we are able to fully experience it. We ask God also that his love will flow through us to others. Jesus said, “ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love“ (John 15:10). We asked God to help us obey all of the fullness of His love so that it would blossom in us.
The first of the manifestations of the Spirit is love, which is the key to all the others. Along with temperance (Self-Control), love is the bookend that helps hold the other fruit in place. Its divine characteristics are detailed in (1 Corinthians 13). It’s a love that surpasses human understanding and causes a person to be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19). The supernatural love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The spiritual love is not just a feeling or an emotion, but rather it is a decision. The Fruit of the Spirit causes us to make a decision to love even when we don’t feel like it.
Paul writes in (Philippians 1:9): “And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more.” The word abound means “to grow.” God wants our love to grow so big, that it will chase people down and overtake them. When we walk in the love of God, everything else will fall into place. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35).
Love is first for a very good reason, because it was out of love, that God created human beings. He continually reached out to man despite his stubborn ways. It was out of love that God sacrificed His only Son Jesus to save man from sin. Today it is out of love that God sends believers, in Jesus, to spread the Gospel, so that more humans will be saved from their sin.
The fruit of the Spirit comes in many forms, but the type of love mentioned in Galatians is unconditional. It’s the love that a parent has for their child, which is selfless and sacrificing. This is why love is listed as the first. Joy isn’t just another form of happiness. It is actually quite different from happiness. It is eternal, deep contentment. A person finds joy when accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If a person bears the fruit of joy, this allows this same joy to spread to others and causes people to praise God and thank Him for all of His blessings. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit, that keeps a person going, even when feeling persecuted and can even sustain life. God is truly a God of peace, because He longed for peace between Himself and man. He grants people peace, through His Son Jesus, who is often referred to as the “Prince of Peace.” Peace is found when people accept the gift of salvation. People can spread this fruit of the Spirit by keeping peace in situations. After all, Jesus said in the “beatitudes” that blessed are the peacemakers. Long-suffering or patience helps people to be better Christians and human beings. Sometimes, when people call upon God in prayer, His answer doesn’t always come in earthly time. Enduring the struggle, until God finally answers, is a great example of patience and trust. Gentleness comes right along with patience. Gentleness doesn’t necessarily mean timid. Jesus was gentle, but not at all timid about the Truth. Each Christian should be the same. Goodness or kindness is so simple, yet so difficult for many people to attain. Goodness often keeps people from making careless mistakes, after all, people are representatives of Jesus and goodness must be evident in each person. Faith, in Jesus, helps people to abandon the desire to do bad things. Like a plant that is cultivated and cared for, a Christian’s faith can bare the “Fruits of the Holy Spirit.” Baring these fruits are not so difficult if you take the time to pray, read God’s Word, surround you with fellow believers, worship regularly and commit to tithing. By doing this, believers will not only see more good in others, but he or she will see their own relationship with God grow stronger. Jesus also said in the “beatitudes“, that the meek shall inherit the earth. A good example of meekness is this, someone, who turns the other cheek, when faced with a confrontational situation in their lives. Sometimes people want to fight back, but with the Holy Spirit each person will find that meekness is a valuable way to spread the Gospel. Even Jesus had His meek moments, such as when the soldiers took Him away from the Garden of Gethsemane and another great example of meekness was, when He displayed great temperance or self-control, by resisting the temptation of the devil in the desert. With the fruit of the Holy Spirit within a person it is easier to resist temptation and maintain temperance. Self-control is an important fruit, because:
God Is Watching!!!!!!
It is just as easy to sow bad seeds, as it is good ones. Sometimes we don’t realize that we are sowing these bad seeds until it is too late. We call ourselves Christians (Christ-like) but yet there is hate, deceit, spitefulness, jealousy, envy, and strife in out hearts. “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16). We sow seeds of pride, boastfulness, backbiting, malignity and disobedience. Why do we sow these seeds among our brothers and sisters in Jesus? Do we take time to look into our hearts and see what is in there? I can understand these bad seeds being sown, among the sinners, but the biggest thing that bothers me is the fact that this is happening among the Christians. We are called by God to uplift and encourage our fellowman and woman, but instead we find ways to tear them down. We say we love God, but at the same time we have hatred in our hearts for our brothers and sisters. “If a man says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen” (1 John 4:20).There are a few bad seeds that we sometimes sow that God hates.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, it tells of seven deadly sins.
1. A proud look
2. A lying tongue
3. Hands that shed innocent blood
4. A heart that devises wicked imaginations
5. Feet that are swift in running to mischief
6. A false witness that speaks lies
7. A person that sows discord among the brothers or sisters.
Truthfully I have been guilty of sowing a few of these bad seed in the past, but I am trying to do better. This past year, God has shown me a lot of things, that I needed to change within myself. There were times I didn’t let the love of God shine in me. I have asked God to plant His love in me, in such a profound and powerful way, that I am able to fully experience it. I asked God also, that His love would flow through me to others. I asked God to help me obey all of His laws, so that nothing will keep the fullness of His love from blossoming in me.
