06.29.22 | The Fruit of Goodness
In Galatians 5, Paul encourages the church of Galatia to walk in the Spirit –something we all desire to do as followers of Jesus, as we commit to practicing his way. In verses 22-23, Paul then specifies that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This week, we will be focusing on the fruit of goodness as we continue through the four steps of FAST:
- Focus: Find a quiet place to settle your mind and open yourself to the Holy Spirit’s presence.
- Adoration: Spend time honoring and exalting God, tell him what you appreciate about him. Contemplate on who he is and what he has done. You might even be able to get a sense of his presence with you.
- Speak: Commune with God, taking moments to both speak to him about what’s on your heart and to pause and listen for his voice. Use journals to write down what you hear him say. Ask simple follow up questions like, “is there anything else you’d like me to know about [fill in the topic]” to really get to the heart of what Jesus wants to communicate to you and what you want to say to him or plead for while you fast.
- Transform: Commit to taking active steps to change or address what the Lord revealed during your time of fasting.
During the third step, Speak, ask God what he wants you to know about his goodness. Scripture tells us that he expresses his goodness in many ways. In Psalms, we read that “the world is filled with his goodness” (Psalm33:5), and that his “goodness and love will follow us all the days of our life, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).
In what ways has God shown you his goodness recently? If you have trouble remembering these moments, perhaps his goodness in your life has gone unnoticed. Ask God to bring to mind the instances where he has displayed his goodness to you.
Next, spend time prayerfully considering where God is inviting you to receive his goodness in your life today, and in what ways he is encouraging you to show his goodness to others.
During the last step, Transform, spend time with the Spirit, comitting to show God’s goodness to others. Is there someone in particular that God brings to mind that he is asking you to show his goodness towards? Once you have determined what action steps the Lord is calling you to, commit to following through. And as always, we encourage you to share your commitments with a brother or sister in your community who will encourage you and hold you accountable.