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kodi mzimu woyera uli kuti?>> phunziro 3 >> phunziro 4
Kodi Mzimu woyera uli kuti? - Phunziro #4
(To be used to assist
the translation into Chichewa)
How can I be
a Fruitful Christian?
Purpose of the Lesson
• To realize that a successful Christian life is possible
only when the Holy Spirit is living in us and controlling our
lives
• To allow the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be seen in our
lives
• To allow the Holy Spirit to develop and use the spiritual
gifts we were given at our conversion
Prayer
Dear Father in Heaven, You
are so gracious to us. We cannot live as You have planned for
us without Your help. Thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit
to live in us. Help us surrender to His control because we know
that is the only way we can live a real Christian life! We ask
this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Have several of the group
share the verses they chose in their Bible reading.
| Weekly
Bible Reading
(Use your Bible or Africa Bible Verse
Handbook) Read the Bible verses given below
and write out the verse which you consider to be the most
important in each reading.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Romans 8:1-8
Romans 8:9-17
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 John 4:7-21
Galatians 5:16-26
|
Guide’s Comments
God has provided for us so
that we will have a full and satisfying life. Our life
is to be lived moment by moment under the direction of God’s
Holy Spirit. It is characterized by inner peace and joy. 1 Peter
5:14b says, “. . . May peace be with all of you who belong
to Christ.”
The moment we are saved, God
gives us the gift of the continual presence and guidance of the
Holy Spirit. He also provides for immediate forgiveness when
we fail. Read 1 John 1:9 . . . . . We do not
have to wait to be in a special place at a special time to be
forgiven. We can confess our sin to God, be immediately forgiven,
and be clean again.
Many Christians are not living
up to the full potential that God has made available to them.
From God’s point of view, the Christian life is lived under
the
control of the Holy Spirit. The result is a life that produces
the fruit of the Spirit, which is our topic for this lesson.
In Lesson 3, we learned that
the Holy Spirit plays an active role in our Christian growth.
He helps us to pray, understand the Bible, and obey what we read.
In this lesson, we will learn the positive results of obeying
the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
| 1. The
Spirit of God produces wonderful results in our lives as
we obey Him.
List the nine qualities that are the natural product of
the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life. Read
Galatians 5:22-23 . . . . .
(love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control)
|
These are inner qualities
which we all want to possess, but they are not the
natural products of human life. They are produced only by God’s
indwelling Spirit. They are the fruit, or the outward expression,
of the inner life of believers who are walking in God’s
Spirit and not their own sinful desires.
We may think we have several
of these qualities in our lives and may desire the rest. However,
they are not separate qualities that can be divided. A study of
these verses indicates that these qualities are a unit. They are
like a bunch of grapes rather than separate pieces of fruit. Also,
all of these qualities are to be found in all Christians.
| 2. The
fruit of the Spirit is listed so it naturally falls into
three categories.List the fruit in the order given in Galatians
5:22-23.
The Fruit
of the Spirit
Attitude .................Action ................Application
(love) .................(patience)................ (faithfulness)
(joy)................(kindness)................. (humility)
(peace).............. (goodness) ...............(self-control)
|
J. Sidlow Baxter, an English
Bible teacher and conference speaker, said the first three fruits
are inner attitudes concerning ourselves. The next three concern
others. They are actions looking outward. The last three are applications
which look upward. They are the first essentials of godliness.
These three groups cover all the relationships of life.
Love
It is appropriate that love
is listed first—for love is the greatest quality. We are
told this in
1 Corinthians 13:13. . . . . To love in all of
life’s relationships is the way to obey the commandments
of God. Read Matthew 22:34-40. . . . .
| 3. The
Christian life is a life of love. Match the following phrases
with the proper Bible references.
a. Colossians 3:19. . . .
.
b. Luke 6:27-28. . . . .
c. Titus 2:3-4. . . . .
d. John 13:34-35. . . . .
e. Matthew 22:39. . . . .
f. Ephesians 5:2. . . . .
(d) love one another
(f) be controlled by love
(c) love your husband and children
(a) love your wife
(e) love your neighbor
(b) love your enemies |
The Holy Spirit is love. He
produces love in God’s children.
| Love is
not only an attitude, it is an action and also an application.
Love is not limited to emotions or feelings. It is an action,
motivated by a person’s will, read Romans 12:9-10.
. . . .
Love is a sacrifice—it costs.
It includes action, giving of one’s self, time, attention,
and service. But it is not impossible to love the way this
definition implies, read Romans 5:5. . . . . . . God
gives us His love by means of the Holy Spirit. This enables
us to really love as He loves.
|
Joy
Joy is more than happiness. Happiness depends
on our good fortune. We are happy when things are going our way,
but our happiness disappears when the situation chang
|
As Christians, we have joy in our hearts in spite of circumstances.
Our relationship with God is the foundation of our joy. Happiness
ceases, but joy is unending. Read Philippians 4:4.
. . . .
|
| Peace
Peace is a gift from God made possible
through the death of Jesus Christ. It involves peace with
God, peace with others, and peace with one’s self. This
tranquility floods the heart and spirit that are in harmony
with God. Read Philippians 4:6-7. . . . .
|
Now turn to John 14:27. . . . .
|
4. What circumstances in your life cause you to worry and
rob you of the peace God gives? What can you do this week
to help you trust God more fully? . . . . .
|
The next category of fruit causes us to look
outward.
|
Patience
Patience is the will to endure and
put up with others without complaining. Patience involves
endurance and mercy. Read Romans 15:5. . . . .
5. Is there a current situation in
your life which calls for you to have patience? . . . . . |
Patience is a quality of God we appreciate.
God, who has been so patient with us, is willing for His Holy Spirit
to give us His patience whenever we ask Him.
| Kindness
Kindness is sometimes translated as
gentleness. It means thoughtful consideration, courteous and
kindly action. Read Colossians 3:12. . . . .
|
God is kind to us and He asks us to be kind
in all our relationships. Our kindness to others pleases God.
Important: In the following question, they are to share their
plans only, not details of the situation or names of those involved.
| 6. Think
of a situation which causes you to be unkind in your thoughts
or reactions. Ask God to give you a new way to exhibit the
fruit of kindness in that situation. Write what your new response
will be. . . . . |
| Goodness
Goodness is the total of all God’s
attributes, revealing His incomparable righteousness, holiness,
and perfect divine character. Read Ephesians 2:10
. . . . . |
God is good. As His children, we can conduct
ourselves in such a way that God’s goodness is easily seen,
as the Holy Spirit is graciously developing Christ’s character
in us.
The next category of fruit causes us to look upward.
| Faithfulness
Faith signifies complete confidence
in God. This outstanding quality indicates God’s presence
in our Christian lives. Faithfulness displays itself in a
person who is trustworthy and reliable. Read Luke
16:10-12 . . . . .
7. In what areas of your life do you
need the Holy Spirit to help you be faithful? . . . . .
|
When we display faithfulness in our living, we show others that
we trust God in all things and know the truth that is expressed
in 2 Thessalonians 3:3. . . . . What are some characteristics
of a person who is faithful?. . . . . (Be sure their answers
include the following: committed, reliable, loyal, trustworthy,
credible, dependable, genuine, keeps promises.)
|
Humility
Humility is submission to the sovereign
will of God. The perfect example of humility is Jesus. Read
Philippians 2:3-8 . . . . .
Humility is characterized by the absence
of pride and a freedom from arrogance. It is to put to death
false humility which is of our own effort. |
As the Holy Spirit produces His fruit of humility in us, we learn
to forget about ourselves. Humility is to understand that God can
work through others to accomplish His will.
Self-control
When our whole life is under the control
of the Holy Spirit, we will display self-control when we are
being tempted. We do not have to yield to sinful desires.
We can have victory because we possess the inner strength
of God’s Spirit to be self-disciplined.
Read Titus 2:11-12 . . . . . |
Author Elizabeth George said, “Throughout
the Bible, the word fruit refers to what is within. If what is inside
a person is good, the fruit of that person’s life will be
good. If what is inside is rotten, the fruit of that person’s
life will also be bad.”3
As Christians, we continue to walk in the
Spirit and become more like Jesus Christ. Jesus continually modeled
each of these godly qualities during His earthly ministry. When
we display the fruit of the Spirit, we are showing the world that
God’s Spirit lives in us. Turn and read Philippians
1:11. . . . .
| Gifts
of the Spirit
Gifts of the Spirit are different from
the fruit of the Spirit. All Christians receive every
fruit of the Spirit. However, the gifts of the Spirit
are entirely different. Every believer has at least one gift
received at conversion, but no believer has every gift (Read
1 Corinthians 12:11).
Also notice this contrast. The fruit
of the Spirit enriches the believer’s relationship with
God and others. But the gift of the Spirit is to be used in
serving God (Read 1 Peter 4:10).
Bible teacher Charles C. Ryrie distinguishes
between natural abilities, learned skills, and spiritual gifts.
Natural abilities include
health, I.Q., mechanical aptitude and so forth.
Learned skills include things
like culinary abilities, carpentry, or other hobbies.
Spiritual gifts are gifts
to be used in serving the Lord.4
8. What is the purpose of the gifts
of the Spirit? Read 1 Peter 4:10 . . . .
(use them for the good of others)
9. List the spiritual gifts mentioned
in the following verses.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
. . . . . (wisdom, knowledge, faith, power to
heal, power to work miracles, speaking God’s message,
ability to discern between true and false gifts, ability to
speak in strange languages, the ability to explain what was
said)
Read Romans 12:6-8 . . . .
. (speaking God’s message, serving, teaching,
encouraging others, sharing generously, having authority,
being kind)
|
The Holy Spirit gives us that which
fits the plan God has for our lives.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:11. . . . .
We do not need to be overly concerned about
which spiritual gift or gifts we have. Instead, we will automatically
be using our gift when we live in harmony with God’s Spirit.
This does not mean that we must wait for
God to tell us what our spiritual gift is! As we obey God’s
Word each day, we will be using our gift without even knowing it.
Many times, we discover what our gift is because the Holy Spirit
has made us so effective in that special ministry. We also realize
how natural it is and how much we enjoy serving in that way.
| 10. Write
a prayer thanking God for giving you the fruit of the Spirit
and a spiritual gift. Ask Him to help you yield to the Holy
Spirit, so He can carry out His complete, original plan for
your life. . . . . |
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us
the fruit of the Spirit, so we can
witness to others by the way we live our lives. Thank You for giving
each of us a spiritual gift. Help us to follow Your plan by using
our gift for Your glory. Help us to yield to Your Holy Spirit and
allow Him to guide and control our lives. In Jesus’ name,
amen.
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