Colossians 3:12
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Alright folks! This week we MUST now develop a taste for one of THEE most bitter fruits out of the nine.
I'm not sure if you've ever tasted a bitter melon or bitter gourd before.
I'm not sure if you've ever tasted a bitter melon or bitter gourd before.
My God!
First of all, it's ugly.
It looks like a dried up, light skinned cucumber. To make matters worse, it's awful! It tastes like poison. I believe it's used in Asian dishes.
It looks like a dried up, light skinned cucumber. To make matters worse, it's awful! It tastes like poison. I believe it's used in Asian dishes.
I tried it alone just because out of curiosity.
!!!ICK!!!
!!!ICK!!!
But I heard it's most known for its nutrients and health benefits.
My question is, why does it seem like the foods that have the most benefits taste like death?
Well, the same can be said for the fourth fruit of the spirit; LONGSUFFERING.
In some versions of the Bible it's called forbearance. In other versions it's simply called patience.
The King James version just happened to be blunt with it, calling it longsuffering.
And because it isn't the most pleasant fruit, most believers prefer to avoid it or pray it away not knowing that there are benefits of longsuffering.
I know you might be cringing at the thought of having to suffer long, but hear me out for a second.
This isn't the same as a curse for an old testament transgressor.
It is not the verdict for a sinner.
It's a birthmark of a believer.
I personally feel like I'm very close to earning my masters in longsuffering. Ha!
I've been through some things that I know for a fact had I not been in God, I would have reacted to pretty much everything, in a completely different manner.
I discovered, that longsuffering isn't merely based on a series of unfortunate events mixed with agonizing wretched pain, but better yet a person's final response to them. It's the ABILITY to handle and carry a cross heavier than you, taller than you, from one side of something similar to a football field, to the other.
Longsuffering is not an event.
It's a calling.
Ephesians 4:1-3
Here's why Paul made sure to stipulate the love fruit first because it will be virtually impossible to place your human knee jerk responses to unfavorable circumstances on forbearance without it. Longsuffering serves a greater cause while love backs it up.
God will never send you through the fire if there isn't to be a greater glory to be revealed in the future.
Longsuffering writes the script of your future.
Why must we be willing to bear the fruit of longsuffering you ask?
I believe, I myself from 5 years ago, can best give you the answer.
Check this out!
At the spur of the moment in the summer of 2014, I was commissioned to preach my first sermon before the church I previously belonged to.
I'd had no previous experience in delivering a message in this form. Little did I know though, God had been prepping me for this. Prior, I'd survived a mental breakdown, survived being hit by a car, and I was shedding the feelings of rejection, disappointment and betrayal from previous seasons, among other things.
I also didn't know that this message would be more prophetic than anything considering shortly after I would come to recognize the fruit of longsuffering in a greater degree.
Which has prompted me as I type this right now, to say that I no longer have any regrets or resentment. Everything that I've ever been through has made me who I currently am. I don't believe that I would be half the person I am, had I rejected the opportunity to come face to face with the very things that would assist in cultivating the fruit of longsuffering in me.
I wouldn't even be able to deliver this message to you today. Nor handle NONE of the unique assignments God has handed to me to fulfill.
My character is an automatic byproduct of what I had to suffer through.
I feel like King David in Psalms 119:71 when he said, "It was good for me that I had to suffer so that I may learn your decrees." David rejoiced in his past sufferings because he was able to recognize what he'd learned as a result.
So all is well with me in the land of the living.
My prayer is that you, YES YOU, find your release today after hearing this message and accept that the fruit of longsuffering has to be apart of your makeup or else your witness will be incomplete.
You're going to have to suffer through some situations, interactions and relationships with people. You're going to have show patience toward the attitudes and dysfunctions of people. You're going to have to suffer through the inconsistencies of life.
Some things you will encounter will be ugly, not pretty.
Some of you will see first hand the dross of humanity and have to forgo the right to quit!
Tormented souls will lash out at you because of the God in you and you're going to have to love on them in spite of, since God did the same for you.
My closing argument, at some point in your journey in Christ, you will have to say,
"Not my will, but thy will be done, God."
This, is the fruit of longsuffering.
And because it isn't the most pleasant fruit, most believers prefer to avoid it or pray it away not knowing that there are benefits of longsuffering.
I know you might be cringing at the thought of having to suffer long, but hear me out for a second.
This isn't the same as a curse for an old testament transgressor.
It is not the verdict for a sinner.
It's a birthmark of a believer.
I personally feel like I'm very close to earning my masters in longsuffering. Ha!
I've been through some things that I know for a fact had I not been in God, I would have reacted to pretty much everything, in a completely different manner.
I discovered, that longsuffering isn't merely based on a series of unfortunate events mixed with agonizing wretched pain, but better yet a person's final response to them. It's the ABILITY to handle and carry a cross heavier than you, taller than you, from one side of something similar to a football field, to the other.
Longsuffering is not an event.
It's a calling.
Ephesians 4:1-3
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Here's why Paul made sure to stipulate the love fruit first because it will be virtually impossible to place your human knee jerk responses to unfavorable circumstances on forbearance without it. Longsuffering serves a greater cause while love backs it up.
God will never send you through the fire if there isn't to be a greater glory to be revealed in the future.
Longsuffering writes the script of your future.
Why must we be willing to bear the fruit of longsuffering you ask?
I believe, I myself from 5 years ago, can best give you the answer.
Check this out!
At the spur of the moment in the summer of 2014, I was commissioned to preach my first sermon before the church I previously belonged to.
I'd had no previous experience in delivering a message in this form. Little did I know though, God had been prepping me for this. Prior, I'd survived a mental breakdown, survived being hit by a car, and I was shedding the feelings of rejection, disappointment and betrayal from previous seasons, among other things.
I also didn't know that this message would be more prophetic than anything considering shortly after I would come to recognize the fruit of longsuffering in a greater degree.
Which has prompted me as I type this right now, to say that I no longer have any regrets or resentment. Everything that I've ever been through has made me who I currently am. I don't believe that I would be half the person I am, had I rejected the opportunity to come face to face with the very things that would assist in cultivating the fruit of longsuffering in me.
I wouldn't even be able to deliver this message to you today. Nor handle NONE of the unique assignments God has handed to me to fulfill.
My character is an automatic byproduct of what I had to suffer through.
I feel like King David in Psalms 119:71 when he said, "It was good for me that I had to suffer so that I may learn your decrees." David rejoiced in his past sufferings because he was able to recognize what he'd learned as a result.
So all is well with me in the land of the living.
My prayer is that you, YES YOU, find your release today after hearing this message and accept that the fruit of longsuffering has to be apart of your makeup or else your witness will be incomplete.
You're going to have to suffer through some situations, interactions and relationships with people. You're going to have show patience toward the attitudes and dysfunctions of people. You're going to have to suffer through the inconsistencies of life.
Some things you will encounter will be ugly, not pretty.
Some of you will see first hand the dross of humanity and have to forgo the right to quit!
Tormented souls will lash out at you because of the God in you and you're going to have to love on them in spite of, since God did the same for you.
My closing argument, at some point in your journey in Christ, you will have to say,
"Not my will, but thy will be done, God."
This, is the fruit of longsuffering.
Amen! Awesome message!
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