Longsuffering: Growing Through Struggle

Longsuffering: Growing Through Struggle

Longsuffering is a Fruit of the Spirit many of us want to avoid. Quite honestly, who really wants to endure the difficulties of life like losing a loved one, being downsized, experiencing a health scare, being evicted, or not being able to make ends meet? Not me. But God uses seasons of longsuffering to build our patience, faith, and trust in Him. He also uses those trials to reveal Himself to us in miraculous ways.

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"Living the Fruit of the Spirit" Summer Series

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"Living the Fruit of the Spirit" Summer Series

The Apostle Paul addressed Spirit versus fleshly living in a letter to the Galatians. In his epistle, he explains that the Spirit and the flesh are “in conflict” with one another (Galatians 5:17), and encourages the people of Galatia to deny the flesh by “liv[ing] by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16).  

Lent 2016 Week 4/5: Learning to Abide

Lent 2016 Week 4/5: Learning to Abide

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word “abide” is a verb that means “to wait for, to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, to accept without objection”.  Abiding is never easy, especially for those of us living in the 21st Century where everything from preparing food to communicating is instant. It requires active use of the fruit of the spirit—patience and longsuffering —that comes only through relationship with God.

Lent 2016 Week 3: Get Your Stride

Lent 2016 Week 3: Get Your Stride

Five minutes in I knew I was in trouble. My eyes were watering from the cold, my legs felt like lead, and I couldn’t breathe. All I wanted to do was to stop running and go home. “Candance, take a deep breath and don’t panic,” my friend told me. She could tell I was struggling and offered me advice to help me regain my focus. “Ok…got it…I think,” I responded. I inhaled, taking the cold air into my lungs.  “Just breathe, Candance. Breathe,” I said to myself.