Days 22-25 are below
Day 21
My mom has planted a vegetable garden in her backyard for years. Growing up, I always looked forward to homegrown tomatoes. There were usually green beans, zucchinis, and pumpkins, too. Recently, my daughter Zoey and I went to visit her and took a look at her garden. We saw tiny white flowers and the little green cherry tomatoes that sprout from them. There were long, green beans growing on creeping plants, and several vines stretching across the garden and twisting up the tomato cages. My mom said she didn’t remember if she planted pumpkins or zucchinis at that end of the garden. Their blossoms look almost identical, and none of the four plants had started growing fruit yet. Without seeing what the vines produced, we didn’t know exactly what they were. About a week later, I got a message with a couple pictures, saying that the plants had cross-pollinated and sprouted vegetables that were long like zucchinis but were turning orange like pumpkins. She’d grown zumpkins!
How do you identify a plant in a garden? Sometimes all it takes is to look at it. Or even a quick sniff. I can pick out a tomato plant just by the smell of it, even if there aren’t any buds yet. But if you’re unsure, wait until it bears fruit. My mom didn’t know if she had zucchinis or pumpkins, but it was easy to figure out once the fruits sprouted on the vines.
Our lives work the same way. People can tell what kind of person you are based on the fruit you bear. Now, we don’t grow physical fruit, but we do grow spiritual fruit. Paul lists them in one of his letters to the early churches. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things (Galatians 5:22-23, New Living Translation).” When we’re connected to God’s Holy Spirit, our lives produce those nine things. They don’t all grow at once, and many of us grow a few of them much more easily than others. Maybe you are filled with joy. It floods your spirit and spills over into those around you. But self-control needs more time and attention in the garden of your heart. Or perhaps gentleness comes easily to you. That fruit grows even when you’re going through a spiritual drought. But the plot where patience should be is barren. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but the important thing is that you see some of these spiritual fruits forming as we walk with God. When others look at your life, they should see evidence that you’re connected to the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the spirit help them identify you as a child of God.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
What fruits of the spirit do people see when they look at you? Which ones are you missing? Ask God to help you in areas where you’re lacking. Look around at the people in your life who have those fruits your missing. They could be a good source of advice and inspiration. Who can you reach out to in order to start growing those fruits more easily?
Heavenly Father, let others see You through me. Touch my heart so that I can grow the fruits of the spirit, especially the ones that have been difficult for me to produce in the past. You know my struggles. Please lead me to a mentor who can help me grow a garden that has all nine fruits, so that I may find balance, draw closer to You, and show others how they can find fulfillment through connection with You.
How do you identify a plant in a garden? Sometimes all it takes is to look at it. Or even a quick sniff. I can pick out a tomato plant just by the smell of it, even if there aren’t any buds yet. But if you’re unsure, wait until it bears fruit. My mom didn’t know if she had zucchinis or pumpkins, but it was easy to figure out once the fruits sprouted on the vines.
Our lives work the same way. People can tell what kind of person you are based on the fruit you bear. Now, we don’t grow physical fruit, but we do grow spiritual fruit. Paul lists them in one of his letters to the early churches. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things (Galatians 5:22-23, New Living Translation).” When we’re connected to God’s Holy Spirit, our lives produce those nine things. They don’t all grow at once, and many of us grow a few of them much more easily than others. Maybe you are filled with joy. It floods your spirit and spills over into those around you. But self-control needs more time and attention in the garden of your heart. Or perhaps gentleness comes easily to you. That fruit grows even when you’re going through a spiritual drought. But the plot where patience should be is barren. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but the important thing is that you see some of these spiritual fruits forming as we walk with God. When others look at your life, they should see evidence that you’re connected to the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the spirit help them identify you as a child of God.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
What fruits of the spirit do people see when they look at you? Which ones are you missing? Ask God to help you in areas where you’re lacking. Look around at the people in your life who have those fruits your missing. They could be a good source of advice and inspiration. Who can you reach out to in order to start growing those fruits more easily?
Heavenly Father, let others see You through me. Touch my heart so that I can grow the fruits of the spirit, especially the ones that have been difficult for me to produce in the past. You know my struggles. Please lead me to a mentor who can help me grow a garden that has all nine fruits, so that I may find balance, draw closer to You, and show others how they can find fulfillment through connection with You.
Day 22
Many wedding ceremonies include an excerpt from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. It has become known as the “Love Chapter.” You may have heard these words before.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, New Living Translation).”
Adding to these ideas about love is this verse from 1 John: “Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:7-8, New Living Translation).” I once heard it said that you can replace the word “love” with “God” in the “Love Chapter,” and you’ll find a perfect description of God.
But let me present you with a challenge: Replace the word “love” with your name in the “Love Chapter,” and see if it describes you. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, walking through this world and showing His love, kindness, and mercy to those who are far from Him. Yesterday, we looked at the fruits of the spirit. The first one on the list is love. If you want to grow the fruit of love in your heart, then you must work hard to embody the “Love Chapter” in your everyday life, as hard as some of those tasks may prove. Be patient and kind. Don’t be jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Never give up, never lose faith, always be hopeful, and endure through every circumstance. Piece of cake, right?
Will you stumble and fall as you try to live out the “Love Chapter” through your words and actions? Absolutely. Only God can do it perfectly. But that’s no reason not to try. By working hard to live a life that resembles Christ’s, you’re making God accessible to people that might not feel like they can ever get to know Him themselves. Do your best to be love, give of yourself to others, and they will have the opportunity to connect with the one who knows them best and loves them most. When we love, we become softer, gentler people. Everyone is a work in progress, and some struggle with this more than others. But for love to flourish in your relationships, you have to let God’s standard of love consume you. Let the light of your life lead others on a path toward God.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
What aspect of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 can you commit to live out today? Which parts come naturally to you? Which prove more difficult? Choose one from the “difficult” list and begin practicing it today. Let your words and actions become more like Christ, so that you can lead others to God.
Heavenly Father, I want to love like You. Remind me to refer back to the “Love Chapter.” Pull at my heart and help me see the people in my life who I can lead to You. Erase my self-doubt and build my confidence, so that I can speak without fear and spread your love to a broken world. Use me to make a great impact on Earth.
Day 23
I recently ran the mile with my students in P.E. It’s a small way to help me stay healthy and active, and it’s a great way to build connections with my class. Everyone partners up. One half runs, while the other half tracks of their partners’ laps. I hadn’t run a single, timed mile in a while, so I set a time goal to meet or beat and started running. Lots of kids took off sprinting, and many lapped me, but I ended up lapping them back by running at a consistent pace. I beat my goal time, and spent the next several minutes walking laps to cool down. As I came around the gym for the fifth or sixth time, I noticed that only a few kids were left running. I asked one of the lap trackers how many her partner had left.
“Two.” That was all I needed. I joined that student where she was walking and told her I would help her finish strong. I asked if she’d be willing to jog at a slow pace with me, and she did. In those last two laps, we gathered a crowd. Kids who had finished running and their tracking partners followed along with us. We chanted her name, and she finished her 20th lap at the front of the pack. We had come together to encourage her in a difficult task, and I think our class community is a little stronger for it.
Paul wrote to the Corinithians, “Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others (1 Corinthians 10:24, New Living Translation).” When we help others succeed, we do so ourselves. What good is it for you to prosper, when those around you are struggling and need help that you can provide? Sometimes all it takes is to walk beside someone and encourage them. We are nothing without friends and family, both literal and figurative, to love and support us. We function best in community. Family, close friends, small group members. They can form a powerful support network. Life isn’t always easy, and God helps us when we find ourselves in times of trouble. But sometimes that help comes directly from your support network. And just the same, you can lift up your friends and family when they’re down. It doesn’t cost anything to lend a hand or give an encouraging word, so get out there and work for the good of others.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
Who have you come to rely on when you’re down? Who have you surrounded yourself with to pick you up when you fall? Now, flip things around. Who in your life could use that kind of support from you? What kind of struggles have you seen where you can offer help to someone in need? How can you give of yourself today so that one more person makes it to the finish line with their head held high? Think about the power you have to build up others and restore their faith in both humanity and God. Don’t let it slip through your fingers today.
Heavenly Father, fix my eyes on others today. Prompt me to use the gifts with which you have blessed me to help others. Whether it’s something as simple as writing an encouraging note or raking a neighbor’s leaves, or a much bigger task like volunteering at a local charity or going on a mission trip, remind me to work for the good of others. Turn my heart from laziness and selfishness and toward love and compassion. Use me to help others in a powerful way, not just today but more and more with each passing day. Thank you for the ways that others have helped me. Now lead me to pay it forward.
Day 24
One day, I was at the grocery store, loading the belt at the cash register. The young woman at the front of the line was checking on the price of her groceries as they were being rung up. She told the cashier that should couldn’t spend over fifty dollars. She had a couple little boys in her cart, and I thought about how tough it can be to make ends meet when you have young children. I felt a prompting in my heart to pull out my debit card and pay for whatever she still had that went over her budget. Then the woman in line between us said she wanted to pay for all the first woman’s groceries. The young mother teared up and thanked the other woman, explaining that she was getting food for her two boys and only had fifty dollars cash on her to pay for it. I wasn’t even the one getting help, and I got choked up in the line. I had been blessed by simply watching someone else get blessed.
Kindness and love are funny that way. It’s easy to think of them as having a finite supply. You only have so much to give out. But in reality, the more we give them out, the more we find in ourselves. King Solomon noted this phenomenon himself when he wrote, “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed (Proverbes 11:25, New Living Translation).” Helping others helps you, too. Have you ever done something for someone, seen the joy or relief it brought them, and felt your own heart swell? Just like the feeling I got at the grocery store, we take heart when people show generosity and offer to refresh others through their actions. Rarely have I ever helped someone and left thinking, “Well that was a waste of my time.” Sure, sometimes it’s not convenient to offer your help. Or the person who needs help is someone you don’t get along with. Or you just don’t have the time. And it’s okay to stay on schedule or shy away from an uncomfortable situation. But if you feel a prompting from God, a nudge in your heart or mind, to step out of your comfort zone or risk running a little behind for the sake of someone else, trust Him and lend a hand, bring refreshment to a weary spirit, show some generosity. You may be surprised at what that act will do for you as much as it will do for the other person.
God uses us to bless others, but He doesn’t leave us empty-handed. He fills our spirits with joy in those moments. And we can build relationships that weren’t there before or strengthen ones that are weak, so that when we find ourselves in need there are others out there ready and willing to bless us. Generosity can be tough to extend to others, especially if you’ve been conditioned to hold onto what you have, to hoard your resources so you don’t run out of what you need. But it can be learned. And it’s never too late to begin. Start today, and let God plunge you into a cycle of blessings that will leave you and those around you in a better state than where any of you started.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
Are you a generous person? Or are you stingy? Is God calling you to live a more generous life? Listen for his promptings, so that He can bless you through the ways you will bless others. Ask him to teach you how to show generosity with your time, talents, and resources.
Heavenly Father, You have blessed me with so much. Help me to trust You enough to share that with others. When I find myself being selfish with what I have, remind me of how others have refreshed my soul with their generosity. Let their example guide me today and in the days to come, so that I can bring blessings to others and feel Your blessings return to me in the process.
Day 25
I love to play games with my family and friends. Board games, card games, video games, tabletop games. They’re all great. I really like to win. Who doesn’t? I can even deal with losing. It’s when I feel like I’m being unapologetically trounced that losing gets tough. I used to get frustrated when I’d lose game after game of Skip-Bo against my wife. To this day, I lose approximately 95% of the time. But we have fun, and now it’s a running joke with us. What makes losing the worst is when the winner brags. Sarah and I have worked hard to teach Zoey that no matter who wins, it’s important to shake hands and say, “Good game.” No matter how much you want to cheer for yourself after a victory or flip the table when you’re beaten. I won’t say I’m perfect here ‒ I may have done a touchdown dance or two after winning a card game with the family ‒ but I know how much harder it is to lose graciously when it feels like someone’s rubbing their win in your face.
This applies to more than just games. Do you have a friend or coworker or neighbor or family member that likes to show off when they get a raise or a promotion, win a contest, or things are just going their way? Are you that person in your family, workplace, neighborhood, or friend group? Even if you’re working hard, when someone brags about their successes and accomplishments, it can bring the rest of us down. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote, “Don’t be selfish: don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3, New Living Translation).” Let’s be honest: No one likes a bragger. When the time is right, celebrate your successes with those who are close to you and know how important those victories are. But everyone will get along better if you stop tooting your own horn. Remember how it feels when others do that around you.
God calls us to be humble, to think of others as better than ourselves. Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, put it this way: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others.” Turn your focus from yourself and place it on others. How can you help encourage them and build them up today? When you spend time investing in other people, you get a boost, too. We rise by lifting others.
Take a moment to reflect on today’s devotional and scripture. Use the space below to write your responses.
Are you a bragger? Do you want people to turn and look your way when life is good? How can you turn the spotlight on someone else today? What friend/coworker/neighbor/family member could use that encouragement today? Open your heart and let God bring you the name of a person you can lift up instead of bringing praise and attention to yourself. Write that name below and pray for God to reveal how you can make a difference for that person in the coming days and weeks.
Heavenly Father, You have done great things in my life. I have overcome great obstacles, and You have carried me through some difficult challenges. But I am here now and ready to make a difference for those around me. Thank you for being my source of happiness, for turning my focus away from my circumstances, my own desires, my finances, my pleasure seeking, and my selfishness. Help me to remember that You are greater than all those things. Guide me today, so that I can be a force for good in the world. Allow me the chance to lead others to You, so that they might know this happiness for themselves. It’s in your precious name that I pray. Amen.