Happy New Year everyone!
I hope that everyone had a safe holiday and that you are feeling loved and blessed by God and family during this season.
I’ve been spending the past several months praying and thinking about what to do next with this site and our group. I felt that I was supposed to write about something very specific, but since I had not heard clearly on what it was, I decided to take a step back and wait until God revealed it.
Then a few months ago someone asked me: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”
This is a question that is dear to me because when I meet and talk to people about my beliefs they are often surprised. For some reason I am not what they expect when they think of a Christian. For many people Christians are what they see in the news. We are the folks picketing abortion clinics or harassing gay couples who want to get married. We are the ones championing “conservative” politics, always trying to keep things the way they were.
So when I discuss my faith with people they are often left scratching their heads. “How is this guy a Christian like ‘those other people’”?
This used to make me sad, that a small subset of Christians have tinted the lens through which the world looks at me. But now I see it as an opportunity. Maybe there is something that the outside observers have missed when they look at “those Christians”. Maybe if I share what it means to be a Christian to me, the Holy Spirit can help us all reach common ground that we didn’t previously think was possible.
So that’s what I’m going to do this year. I’m going to write about what it means to be “Christ-like”.
Jesus said “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” – Luke 6:43-44. So if we are supposed to bear good fruit in our lives then what is that fruit?
That fruit is the Fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23
During 2012 I will write about the fruit of the spirit as I endeavor to grow in them myself. I will also do several fasts throughout the year to help us learn in practical ways how to develop these fruits in our lives. The blossoming of these fruits is the evidence that we are on our way to being as Christ-like as we can be. It is the way to true freedom in this world.
The first step on our journey will be LOVE.
I hope that you will embark on this journey with me. This is the year that we will be set free.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. – Galatians 5:13
Let’s Get it!
I’ve been spending the past several months praying and thinking about what to do next with this site and our group. I felt that I was supposed to write about something very specific, but since I had not heard clearly on what it was, I decided to take a step back and wait until God revealed it.
Then a few months ago someone asked me: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”
This is a question that is dear to me because when I meet and talk to people about my beliefs they are often surprised. For some reason I am not what they expect when they think of a Christian. For many people Christians are what they see in the news. We are the folks picketing abortion clinics or harassing gay couples who want to get married. We are the ones championing “conservative” politics, always trying to keep things the way they were.
So when I discuss my faith with people they are often left scratching their heads. “How is this guy a Christian like ‘those other people’”?
This used to make me sad, that a small subset of Christians have tinted the lens through which the world looks at me. But now I see it as an opportunity. Maybe there is something that the outside observers have missed when they look at “those Christians”. Maybe if I share what it means to be a Christian to me, the Holy Spirit can help us all reach common ground that we didn’t previously think was possible.
So that’s what I’m going to do this year. I’m going to write about what it means to be “Christ-like”.
Jesus said “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” – Luke 6:43-44. So if we are supposed to bear good fruit in our lives then what is that fruit?
That fruit is the Fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23
During 2012 I will write about the fruit of the spirit as I endeavor to grow in them myself. I will also do several fasts throughout the year to help us learn in practical ways how to develop these fruits in our lives. The blossoming of these fruits is the evidence that we are on our way to being as Christ-like as we can be. It is the way to true freedom in this world.
The first step on our journey will be LOVE.
I hope that you will embark on this journey with me. This is the year that we will be set free.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. – Galatians 5:13
Let’s Get it!
I'm with you brotha!
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