Gifts That Bear Fruit - Part 2

Last week we started a series of blogs regarding the topic “Gifts That Bear Fruit.”  I would encourage you to go back and read last week’s entry if you have not already done so. It will lay a good foundation to what we will be discussing today and next week.

As we think about the Christmas season and the traditions of gift giving, I would like to share with you SEVEN GIFTS that we can develop in our own lives and then have ready to give to others that will in turn bear much fruit to glorify our Father.

Gift # 1:  The Gift of Forgiveness

In Matthew 18:23-35 we read about the parable of the unforgiving servant. Here are a few details we glean from this story.

•  It was a time of settling accounts.
•  The Master wanted his money.
•  The servant couldn’t pay so he begged for mercy.
•  The Master forgave him and let him go.

However, that servant refused to forgive. He then held his own worker in bondage and refused to forgive. When the original owner found out, he threw the ungrateful servant in prison until he paid his own original debt.

So in light of the teaching of this parable, this Christmas, let’s be ready to give the Gift of Forgiveness wherever it is needed.

Lord, I choose to:

•  Forgive the person who looked at me wrong.
•  Forgive the person who hurt my feelings.
•  Forgive the person who disagreed with me.
•  Forgive the person who betrayed me.

This Christmas season let’s all be purposeful in offering this Gift of Forgiveness.

Gift # 2:  The Gift of Patience

In Hebrew “patience” means to bear or to suffer. In Greek it means hopeful endurance.

How do we walk out this gift of patience in our daily lives? What does it look like? It means:

•  Bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint.
•  Accepting or tolerating delay such as long lines at the store, delayed arrivals, etc.
•  Accepting or tolerating trouble.
•  Accepting or tolerating suffering.

Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting!

It is a character quality of bearing annoyance, misfortune, complaint, irritation, and loss of temper. It is the ability to suppress restlessness and delay annoyances.

Patient people “wait it out” with grace!

Mothers of Nations, take a moment now and look up and read Romans 15:1-7.

Note that Romans 15:5a says, “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus…”

And this is followed up by the exhortation of verse 7: “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”  We are to accept each other (be patient with one another) just as Christ has accepted us.

Isaiah 40: 28-31 reminds us of the power of patience. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹ But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Let’s all purpose to develop and offer this Gift of Patience not only this Christmas season but each and every day of our lives.

Next week we will continue this discussion of Gifts That Bear Fruit. I can’t wait to share more with you!

Dr. Sharon Predovich