Transformative Growth: Living by the Spirit

Christian change is as gradual as a turnip growing or a potato growing or a flower growing. It's gradual. Now Botanical growth you can never really see happen. You can know it's happening. You look at it. Well, actually, any kind of growth, not just Botanical growth. [00:03:10]

Growth is always so small, so gradual you can't see it. It can never be seen. It can only be measured. Growth is always very, very slow, and therefore it's very mysterious. Now, what does that mean practically? If why would Paul talk about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness as fruit? [00:03:32]

Christian change is gradual. It's mysterious. It's seasonal. It's slow. It's almost invisible. In other words, you have to be very careful not to be impatient. But on the other hand, here's the hard side of this: Christian growth is inevitable. If you have the spirit of God in you, there will be change. [00:07:18]

If Botanical growth has that kind of power in its gradualness, if Botanical growth has that kind of power, what kind of power will the spirit of God have? Because this is not just fruit. This is fruit of the spirit. And if the spirit of God is in your life, you will change. [00:08:43]

Real faith that brings in the spirit of God will inevitably lead to growth. And we have to ask ourselves some hard questions. In fact, no, no, don't ask yourself. You'll never know. Ask your friends. Go to people who've known you. Some of you have been Christians a long time. [00:09:56]

There's a difference between mechanical growth and organic growth. There's a difference between external mechanical growth and a difference between internal organic growth. If you keep throwing bricks on a pile, the pile is growing. That's not organic growth. The pile is growing, yes, but simply in quantity. [00:11:56]

You can teach. You may speak with tongues of men or Angels. You may teach. You may know all Mysteries. You may give your body to be burned. You may give your money away. He's talking about mechanical growth. He's talking about doing good and feeding the poor and evangelizing. [00:13:30]

If people's lives are being changed through you, but your life isn't being changed, fly to him immediately. A lot of you are looking at how people are being helped by you. You're counseling them, and you're loving them. Or maybe if you're leading a Bible study, you're doing all these things. [00:14:50]

All of these things are one. Years ago, Jonathan Edwards wrote a book, and in that book, he made one of his chapters this thesis. He says, where is it all? Yeah, pardon me. He says there is a concatenation of The Graces of Christianity. [00:16:30]

If you want to know whether the character growth that's happening in your life, if you want to know whether the love that's growing in your life is real spiritual love from the spirit, from the gospel, if you want to know it's real love, real Joy, real peace, real patience, and not a counterfeit. [00:16:56]

Real peace that will never pass away, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that's perfect, is always connected to humility. But if you're a proud person, you have peace. It's not real peace. It's peace based on the fact things are going well for you. [00:19:29]

The spirit is always looking and seeing the beauty of Jesus Christ and saying the whole reason you don't have self-control, the whole reason you don't have love, the whole reason you're worried, you don't see how beautiful Christ is. You just don't see it. [00:29:15]