Sin..Fruit of the world or Fruit of the Spirit---Contrast
Tune-Up Tips
1)...Pride or Humility.....Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If someone else's pride really bothers you, you have a lot of pride.
2)...Avarice/Greed or Generosity/Intercession.....This is about more than money. Generosity means letting others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its "fair share" or a bit more. Generosity doesn't keep count.
3)...Envy or Love....."Love is patient, love is kind" (1 Co. 13:4-13) Love actively seeks the good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost indistinguishable from pride at times.
4)...Wrath/Anger or Kindness.....Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of others is related to this. Anger stems from a desire to have fairness (justice) to the extreme of vengeance.
5)...Lust or Self-control..... Self-control and self-mastery prevent pleasure from killing the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are controlled in the same way an athlete's muscles are: for maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they can easily go out of control.
6)...Gluttony or Temperance/Balance.....Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. Don't be mistaken gluttony does not pertain only to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods, and even the company of others (attention). You can struggle with the sin of gluttony and still have a perfect body. The sin of gluttony is closely related to the sins of greed and lust.
7)...Sloth or Zeal/Faithfulness.....Zeal is the energetic response of the disciple's heart to God's commands. The other sins work together to deaden the spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to God and then drift completely into the sleep of complacency.
Ask Yourself These 5 Questions
B)...How do you show it?
C)...How much time do you spend each day with Him in prayer and reading the Bible?
D)...Have you talked to your family, friends, neighbours, and other people about the Lord this week?
E)...Do you practice stewardship of your time, energy and money? For instance, are you: meeting together for prayer and Bible Study, tithing, and doing some form of regular service or help in the church?
The cure for cooling off in our love for Christ is not more activity - but more fellowship with Christ. So like the mechanic who built this high performance 350 engine and tuned her up for maximum power & performance, let Jesus...the Master creator (mechanic) help you, to make those nesscessary Spiritual Pit Stops, so we can "...lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easly set us back, and let us run the Race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...." Hebrews 12:1
This study, a Spiritual Tune-Up, was inspired by a four year old child, who over heard her Grandfather say his car needed a tune-up. She then told her Daddy "I quess cars are like Christians...we need a spiritual tune-up every once in awhile, too". Thanks, Shawna!
