Understanding Gifts vs. Fruit--Part 2

Fruit of the Spirit
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control

(Love and Self-Control are the "bookends" of the rest of the fruit.)

Character development:
How God looks at Gifts vs. How We look at Gifts

Gifts are given to us; fruit is cultivated.

Matthew 21:17--"And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night."

An angry Christian is an oxymoron~and 80% of the church is MAD!

Quit being concerned about what everyone else thinks about what you can do, and get down to business with God.  Get rooted and grounded in God, in the love of God, in the Word of God.  Ask God to make you grow up no matter WHAT He has to do to you!  And pray and ask God to not use you in any public way until you are mature enough to give Him all the glory in everything you do.

Seek God for who He is, not for what He can do for us.

The inner life is very important to God--imaginations, attitudes, desires, etc.  It's not what is on the outside that counts.  It's all about integrity--what happens behind closed doors.

Need to run from gossip and criticism faster if it's coming from a Christian than if it's coming from a non-believer.

1 Corinthians 3:1--"Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ."

God is not impressed with what you do if you do it all for the wrong reasons and motives.

[God sat Joyce on a shelf for a year.  She was miserable, but God needed that year to deal with some character flaws she had.  If they had not been dealt with before she went out around the world preaching, it could have been bad.  After that year, she knew she had a call on her life, she knew who she was in Christ, she knew she was unique, but not weird, and she was able to move forward to do what she knew she needed to do and not compare herself with others as she moved forward.]

Matthew 7:17-20--"Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."