Hello Readers!! Happy 4th of July!! I hope you get to spend some time with family and friends today. Celebrate what Christ has done in your life. Use this holiday to share God’s love with someone else! Give someone else some encouragement today. Smile and share your faith!
1 Peter 2:16 reminds us, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”
Be a blessing to others,
~M
Welcome back to the Encouragement challenge. Today, we are going to talk about taking time to listen. Listening is a key to encouraging someone. We must know what they are feeling about themselves and their situation to give personalized encouragement. Some people just want someone to listen when they are feeling sad; while others may need prayer. Today, take time to truly listen to someone and offer them encouragement.
James 1:9 — “Be quick to hear, slow to speak.”
James 1:19 — “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”
Remember to be a blessing to others,
~M
Welcome back to the 30 days of encouragement! Another way we can describe encouragement is building each other up. I had this wonderful art teacher in High School. One day, she gave us an assignment to write something nice about everyone else in the class. We were all smiles after we finished reading the notes from our classmates. So, take some time out of your busy schedule today, and build someone else up.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 — “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Ephesians 4:29 — “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
1 Corinthians 14:26 — “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 — “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Be a blessing to others,
~M
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series. Today, we are finishing up this series. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. What fruit are you growing in your life?
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Portrait of Self-control: Jesus takes our Punishment
Isaiah 53:5-9 (NIV)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Leadership of Self-control
1 Timothy 3:2-3 (NIV)
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
Titus 1:7-9 (NIV)
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Clothing of Self-control
1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 (NIV)
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Lack of Self-control
Proverbs 25:28 (NIV)
28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Education of Self-control
Titus 2:2-6 (NIV)
2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Command of Self-control
1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Welcome back to our Fruit of The Spirit Series.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Grace of Self-control
Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
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