I haven't been doing well, haven't been exercising, haven't . . . blah, blah, blah. The point is that I am back on it! At 2 a.m., I wrote, "I was thinking that I am so disappointed with me, but at the same time, I am not who I once was. G-d has been so good to me. He has brought me so far. Who am I to be disappointed with His work?"
The L-rd must have thought that I really needed a good laugh. Matthew 20:17. ". . . And Yeshua going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart on the way . . . ."
I just totally cracked up! That really struck me as funny!
Last night, I went through the questions that were asked and thought about how they effect me with regard to the fruit of the Spirit. You may look at them differently than I do, but to me, that's what it's all about: how we live out biblical ethics -- the sanctified life.
This is how I saw them (shortened version, at least). The bold areas are where I think I need the most help.
Am I prone to anger? No, I don't have an anger issue; it takes a long, long time for me to reach anger. (My daughter says I am too forgiving.) However, I know that when that "long, long time" finally arrives, I make those adults disappear through ignoring them, not looking at them, avoiding them.
Fruit: peace, patience, kindness, meekness, self-control
Do I judge others fairly, or am I harshly critical (both in what I say and what I think)? I believe I do judge fairly. I write this with a caveat. **(note below)
Fruit: love, patience, kindness
Am I stingy with my money or my time? Yes, I can be stingy with both money and time. While I know that it comes from sometimes not knowing how to say "No," I also know that I should be more generous.
Fruit: love, goodness, faithfulness *
Do I speak curtly, making people feel that I have no time for them? (This is unkind, even when we are busy.) Yes. I have been working on this, learning.
Fruit: love, gentleness, meekness, patience *
Do I avoid saying or doing what I believe is right because I fear how others will react or what they will think of me? (The question we should ask ourselves is not "What will others think?" but "What does G-d want me to do?") No.
Fruit: love
Am I moody? New answer after more thought: Sometimes, especially when I get "down" on myself.
Fruit: love, joy
Do I treat strangers with more consideration than members of my own family? No.
Fruit: love, peace, patience, faithfulness
Do I take other people's kind behavior for granted, or do I go out of my way to express thanks and help those who have been kind to me? I think I do at times. Maybe. But I am a thankful person most of the time.
Fruit: love, kindness *
Do I blame my wrongful actions and mistakes on others, or do I take responsibility for the wrong I do? No. But I have learned not to. I used to be a "blamer" regarding certain things, but G-d called my attention to that last year.
Fruit: self-control
Do I jump to conclusions and blame other people before I know the facts? Yes, I do. I need to work on this.
Fruit: love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control *
Am I able to control my impulses, or do I give in to temptation easily? I am able to control most of my impulses. G-d is good!
Fruit: love, faithfulness, self-control
Do I bear grudges and remain angry at others for a long time after an argument? No.
Fruit: patience, gentleness, self-control
Am I tardy, and thereby waste other peoplefs time by keeping them waiting? No. I may be aggrivating because I am early, however.
Fruit: meekness, peace, self-control
Do I rationalize dishonesty with such excuses as "Business is different"? No.
Fruit: goodness, faithfulness, self-control
When I hear of other people's suffering or misfortune, do I find ways to help them, or do I feel sadness in my heart but do nothing? I need to work on this. A lot. I tend to do nothing. I fear doing/saying the wrong thing, getting in the way, being a bother. I should have learned long ago that these are not true.
Fruit: love, kindness, goodness *
Am I jealous of the success of others? Do I begrudge others their good fortune? No.
Fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, self-control
Through this exercise, I may be seeing the areas in which I need the most help, but thank G-d, He sees me more clearly than I do myself, and He knows the areas He will be working on. Praise G-d! It is not all up to me: He carries much of the load. More about that later.
Areas in which I need to apply the most work now (from above).
Fruit of the Spirit:
1. * love /////
2. * kindness ///
2. * goodness ///
3. patience //
3. faithfulness //
3. meekness //
4. peace /
4. gentleness /
4. self-control /
** The question above was: Do I judge others fairly, or am I harshly critical (both in what I say and what I think)? I answered: I believe I do judge fairly. I believe that there is a strong possibility that a large group of people from my past would disagree with this. However, I believe I am answering honestly. I am now trying to do my best to judge those persons as fairly as I humanly can. Perhaps it is best that I write nothing more than this at this time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment