The next few days, we’ll be focusing on different fruits of the Spirit and what they mean for us this Easter season. If you're wanting to catch up on days 1-10, click here to find the Significance of the Names and Attributes of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25)
Find hope with truths from Scripture and apply these truths to your life each day. Find a piece of encouragement to cling to as you move throughout your week. May the fruits of the Spirit be evident in your life as we walk with the Lord and find strength from Him this Easter.
Below are days 11-20 of The Significance of ____: Spiritual Strength for Your Easter Season. Be blessed as you focus on significant, biblically-based truths in the days ahead!
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
What this truth says about God: Jesus loves us so much that He sacrificed His life for us. He loved us to the point of death.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: During the Easter season, remember that God’s love is so radical, so kind and so generous. Because He loved us so much, we can be reconciled to Him and abide with our heavenly Father.
Always remember: You are unconditionally loved.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, we praise you for your love for us! Thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and extending that free gift of salvation to each of us because of your great love. Amen.
Jesus’ love is unconditional. The good news of Jesus and His love is worth sharing!
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7)
What this truth says about God: God is the source of our joy. We can rejoice in His goodness and sing praises to His name because of the joyfulness that walking with the Spirit brings to our lives.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: During the Easter season, be encouraged in this work that you get to do. It is a blessing, privilege, honor and JOY to serve the Lord through serving the bride of Christ, His church. We can find a fullness of joy in our work. As 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, God loves a cheerful giver!
Always remember: Because of Jesus’ presence in our lives, we can rejoice and be glad!
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, we rejoice in your saving grace! We praise you for the opportunities we have to serve and love others this Easter season. We delight in you and in your kindness to us. Amen.
We delight in Christ and anchor our source of joy in Him.
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)
What this truth says about God: God is the source of perfect peace. The peace He gives is a peace that passes all understanding, from the Prince of Peace Himself!
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: During the Easter season, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. God is the only one who can provide perfect peace. Even during times of stress or difficulty, we can keep our minds and hearts focused on God in order to receive the peace of our heavenly Father.
Always remember: With prayer and thanksgiving, we can approach God with our requests, knowing that His peace will guard us.
Abide
Prayer of the day: To the Prince of Peace, we say thank you. We are grateful for the ways you provide peace in our lives. Overwhelm, hardship, busy schedules and long to-do lists threaten to steal our peace. The ways of this world are distracting and disillusioning. Thank you for being the Lord of peace. We praise you for giving peace to us at all times and in every way. Amen.
The peace of God can rule our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
What this truth says about God: For the joy set before Him, Jesus patiently endured the cross. He is our perfect example of patience! When it comes to patience in suffering, Jesus led by example as He took the sins of the world on Him so that we can be reconciled to God.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: During this Easter season, when trials and tribulations creep in and tempt us to respond in anger or to get weary of doing good, we can grow in patience! May we trust the Lord to be our strength and source of comfort. May we follow the Lord’s lead and be patient with one another, with ourselves and with His timing.
Always remember: We can grow in patience because of Jesus’ perfect example of patience and perseverance for each of us.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Thank you for your patience with us, Lord Jesus! Because of your patience, we can live in right standing and communion with you. May you help us to grow in humility, gentleness, patience and love. Amen.
With Jesus’ example as our guide and His presence in our lives, we can be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
What this truth says about God: God is the leading, perfect example of kindness! It is through His kindness and compassion that He forgave us.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: Because God loved us and forgave us, we can have a posture of humility, forgiveness and kindness towards one another.
Always remember: We can lead with kindness because of Christ’s kindness and care for us.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, thank you for your humility and kindness towards us. We confess that we are not always kind and tenderhearted to one another and we commit to following your example of kindness and forgiveness. We glorify you and thank you that you forgave us. May we keep this in mind as we walk throughout this season. Amen.
Christ forgave each and every one of us, which is the ultimate act of kindness!
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10)
What this truth says about God: God created us to glorify Himself! When we do good work for the Lord and not for man, we honor Him.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: Goodness is showing kindness and doing work that benefits others, not yourself. This Easter season, we can serve others with patience and joy, knowing that salvation is not based on works, but that we were created for good work that results in glory to God and encouragement to others.
Always remember: We serve our church families and local communities so we can bring the good news of Jesus to all.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, help us to faithfully serve you from a place of joy. We know that there is such goodness and abundance in working for you, Lord, and not for man. We cheerfully serve you as we serve our church family and community this Easter season. Amen.
We serve the Lord and share His goodness with others in order to bring honor to His name!
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
What this truth says about God: God is faithful! He is sovereign over all and steadfast in His love towards us.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: No matter what comes our way, we can depend on the Lord. In the highs and lows of it all, He is faithful.
Always remember: We can fully rely on the Lord knowing that He will give us strength and encouragement. God is safe to trust!
Abide
Prayer of the day: God, because of your faithfulness towards us, we know that we can trust you. Help us to faithfully serve you in this work that you’ve called us to.
God has called us to this work and, even when it gets challenging, He will give us stamina and hope to persevere.
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “A gentle tongue is a tree of life…” (Proverbs 15:4a)
What this truth says about God: God sees gentleness and the encouragement that we give to one another as something that’s life-giving. As believers, we can follow the example of Christ and speak with soft words (Proverbs 15:1) with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: As you abide with your team this Easter, may you see one another as Christ sees you and share in gentleness and kindness together.
Always remember: We can be gentle, kind sources of encouragement for one another as we plan for Easter and show Christ’s gentleness and kindness to others.
Abide
Prayer of the day: God, help us to be gentle and kind to one another. May we honor you as we’re quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Amen.
The gentleness of God can be our foundation for what we think, say and do as we prepare alongside our teams this Easter.
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)
What this truth says about God: God has standards of righteous living for His children. And, because of His kindness, His power has given us everything we need that pertain to life and godliness.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: May we trust in God and show His love to others – even when we are stressed or discouraged. We can produce more of God’s rightness and goodness in our lives when we have self control and act in obedience to Him.
Always remember: God will strengthen us as we seek to live righteous lives! He will not let us be tempted more than we can bear.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, help us to be disciplined and have self control. Even in the times of turmoil, we know that you will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you for providing us with peace and perspective. Amen.
In times of testing, strife or struggle – the Lord will always provide!
Refocus
Fix your focus on this truth: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
What this truth says about God: The Trinity – God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit – are a comfort to us Christians, an ever-present help in times of trouble and a source of peace.
What this truth says about your work/your church/your team: The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is such a generous, personal gift for us who believe!
Always remember: Because of the Holy Spirit, we can have help during times of weakness. We can be confident because of our access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Abide
Prayer of the day: Lord, thank you for ministering to us through the Holy Spirit. We don’t always know what to pray or how to respond to a situation, but you do. We praise you for giving us the Holy Spirit and for being ever with us. Amen.
May we recognize the significance of what we have in Christ – the Holy Spirit dwelling in us so we can live a life that honors God.