Final notes added...
The Fruit of the Spirit: GOODNESS
Sermon link: https://subspla.sh/x53mpwk
We’re continuing through the series of the fruit of the Holy Spirit produced and harvested in the lives of believers (Galatians 5:22-23). “If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Gal. 5:25
Our pastor started talking about smells and their permeating effects like on a fruit farm. I thought of when I studied in Valencia, Spain in college in the spring as the famous Valencian orange trees bloomed. It filled our little coastal town with the fabulous fragrance and a smile filled my face as i walked the streets, breathing it in! Another smell that brings a full-body experience of joy just thinking about it is lilacs! Oh my favorite! We had a couple huge French lilac bushes at my childhood home in Massachusetts. I loved picking daily bouquets for my mom when they bloomed in the spring to fill our the inside of our home with the sweet aroma too! I share this fond affection with a follow East Coast friend - we always gift each other lilac-scented stuff & the gift of smelling that beloved scent! Unfortunately they don’t survive the California climate...we’ve tried!😞
As the fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives, may the aroma of Christ exude from us!
“thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
1. Ponder the Goodness of God (as defined by Him)
Entrench my mind in studying His moral excellence as God Himself & everything He is, is our standard for goodness that He calls us to live up to & follow with the help of His Spirit (“Be holy as I am holy” 1 Peter)
As “no one is good but God alone” Mark 10:18, we marvel at His common goodness to all mankind (1Timothy 4:4; Genesis 1:4,10; Psalm 23:6, 145)
2. Ask for a New (Good!) Heart
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:25-27
He shared the analogy of needing to clean our stinky armpits, not just covering up their bad odor by slapping on layers of deodorant
3. Purpose (resolve, commit) to do Good
Resolve, commit, plan to do what He’s called me to do it a daily, real, practical sense
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
We now have the ability to do good with the good Holy Spirit enabling us internally to do it. From a good (new) ❤️ flows a good life & actions out of the good connection with a good God (Matt 12:34)
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:9b-10
4. Never Give up on what’s Good
-starts with knowing the goodness of God!
It might not feel good in this upside world & The fruit that’s produced by our goodness can take time to ripen
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Psalm 73, Romans 15
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