1. Colossians 4:5-6 says “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
It can be easy to react based on our initial emotions that rise up in response to various situations that can come up in life. As Pastor Jason mentioned, self control is one of the fruits of the spirit. It is important to rely on God and exercise self control to ensure we are always representing Him well, even when our initial emotional reactions may feel like anger or perhaps just not quite, “full of grace or seasoned with salt.” Just because we feel a certain emotion doesn’t mean we are entitled to react in accordance to it. Do you find this easy to do or is it something you struggle with? Ask God to help you recognize areas in your life that you may be lacking self control and to give you the help you need to react in a way that is God honoring even if it isn’t how we initially “feel.”
2. Pastor Staci in last week’s devotion mentioned the phrase, “living out loud.” She was talking about living our faith out loud for the people around us to see. One of the ways that we can do this is by producing good “fruit.” We can examine our lives by looking at the kind of “fruit” we produce as we will either produce good fruit or bad fruit. In a previous devotion Pastor Jason talked about how apart from Jesus, we cannot produce any good “fruit.” People around us will look at our lives to see what kind of fruit we are producing. Are we responding in love in hard situations? Do we argue hatefully with strangers on social media? Do we follow the callings God has on our lives? Do we ignore things He asks us to do or get rid of? Do we worship God on Sunday and curse at work on Monday? As Jason mentioned, the fruits of the spirit are, “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.” Discuss the last week as a family and be honest about the kind of “fruit” you produced. Pray together and ask God to help you be the best ambassadors of Jesus to the world that you can be.
3. Later in Galatians Chapter 5, Paul says, “Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” It is important for those of us that call ourselves Christians to remember that the world is watching how we treat each other as well. How can the body of Christ work together in unity if we are conceited, provoking, or envying each other? The Bible mentions not even taking communion if you have unforgiveness in your heart. Jesus cares about how we treat each other and wants us to love each other as an example for the rest of the world. Do you have bitterness or unforgiveness in your heart for someone? Pray and ask God to help you see that person the way He sees them and to help you forgive them.
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REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Colossians 4:5-6 says “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
It can be easy to react based on our initial emotions that rise up in response to various situations that can come up in life. As Pastor Jason mentioned, self control is one of the fruits of the spirit. It is important to rely on God and exercise self control to ensure we are always representing Him well, even when our initial emotional reactions may feel like anger or perhaps just not quite, “full of grace or seasoned with salt.” Just because we feel a certain emotion doesn’t mean we are entitled to react in accordance to it. Do you find this easy to do or is it something you struggle with? Ask God to help you recognize areas in your life that you may be lacking self control and to give you the help you need to react in a way that is God honoring even if it isn’t how we initially “feel.”
2. Pastor Staci in last week’s devotion mentioned the phrase, “living out loud.” She was talking about living our faith out loud for the people around us to see. One of the ways that we can do this is by producing good “fruit.” We can examine our lives by looking at the kind of “fruit” we produce as we will either produce good fruit or bad fruit. In a previous devotion Pastor Jason talked about how apart from Jesus, we cannot produce any good “fruit.” People around us will look at our lives to see what kind of fruit we are producing. Are we responding in love in hard situations? Do we argue hatefully with strangers on social media? Do we follow the callings God has on our lives? Do we ignore things He asks us to do or get rid of? Do we worship God on Sunday and curse at work on Monday? As Jason mentioned, the fruits of the spirit are, “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.” Discuss the last week as a family and be honest about the kind of “fruit” you produced. Pray together and ask God to help you be the best ambassadors of Jesus to the world that you can be.
3. Later in Galatians Chapter 5, Paul says, “Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” It is important for those of us that call ourselves Christians to remember that the world is watching how we treat each other as well. How can the body of Christ work together in unity if we are conceited, provoking, or envying each other? The Bible mentions not even taking communion if you have unforgiveness in your heart. Jesus cares about how we treat each other and wants us to love each other as an example for the rest of the world. Do you have bitterness or unforgiveness in your heart for someone? Pray and ask God to help you see that person the way He sees them and to help you forgive them.