The Better Fruit comes as we seek to live by faith,
and even that is provided by Jesus. In this paradigm of the Disciple's Cross
, we can learn to maintain a balanced, fruitful life in relationship
with Jesus.
- God's
Word is the primary base for discovering biblical
principles, standing firm by faith, and growing eternal roots in a relationship
with Jesus. The Holy Spirit helps us grow in understanding His Word.
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Then in prayer
and develop a personal committed fellowship with Jesus,
issue by issue, we can stand up and begin our daily walk.
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Now as we
are standing, we can walk in fellowship with other believers.
We attend church services and other believer gatherings not because
we must, but because we want to know about Jesus. In fellowship we see
other aspects of Jesus. We learn, test out our walk, and help others
develop a consistent walk with Jesus.
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Then we naturally
begin to witness to others of the hope we have in Jesus with
gentleness and respect as in 1 Peter 3:15. We need to understand more
and more about Jesus. The devil wants the worst for us. Jesus wants the
best for us.
Shame and Guilt are two weapons that the devil
uses to keep our focus on failure. Shame and guilt left unchallenged
prevent victory in the Christian's life. I will now define shame
and guilt.
- Shame is subjective
and emotional. Shame occurs on the inside of us. We will focus on
primarily on the person encountering the shame.
-
Guilt is objective
is a fact and not feeling or suggestion.
Shame is defined by three types: natural, imposed, and
moral.
- Natural
Shame is a consequence of the fall. It can be in the form of thorns,
thistles, or like a flat tire or spilt milk. Imagine for a moment
that while opening the refrigerator a gallon of milk falls to the floor.
We might think 'I should have caught it' or 'wow, what a klutz. 'Natural
shame is occurring.
- Imposed
Shame is a consequence of others behavior. As that same milk
falls one or more others start to laugh or remain silent. Imposed shame
occurs and most likely natural shame will occur too.
- Moral Shame
is a consequence of a specific behavior, a choice. As I open
the refrigerator, I throw the milk on the floor. Both moral shame
and guilt occur simultaneously. Guilt is objective. After the specific
sinful action we can imagine being in a court room, as a judge's gavel
strikes down saying, 'GUILTY!' To reconcile shame and guilt we are to
seek the truth.