Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
1 31 2024
Steps to growing in virtue – are you growing?
Matt 7:22-23 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn’t we?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
The proof of being in the vine is not the miracles that we perform but like Pastor Black said this Sunday at Grace Family church, it’s about growing in holiness. How do we do that? Virtue is a strength that grows within us. It’s a Godly habit of doing good things. Over time that habit becomes easier and easier to walk in. It becomes a strength the longer we do it, like pumping iron or jogging to build up our stamina. We keep doing it until it becomes easy. We keep doing these acts of virtue the bible speaks of
until we come to love the good.
Galatians 5:22– “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” The longer we do these good things…the longer we deny their opposites… the vices of life, which are: lust, idolatry, greed, discord, indulgence, wrath, and pride.…the more we crucify them…The more we mortify the flesh….The more we say NO! … we grow in faith, hope, and love. What that is practically is proof of real progress of the fruit of God overflowing within us. Can you see that when we practice these virtues it continually gets easier to bear fruit as we should and If not… why not.?
We know that answer, don’t we? He might say one day…I never knew you….
or enter in my child you were faithful with small things look at what I have reserved for you.
Doing The Little Things
We can do small things every day. Lord help me be more patient with _______ . Lord help me to not judge and keep me from criticizing their actions. Just little offerings throughout the day and those virtues will grow. Lord help me to pray for just 15 minutes today. Lord help me to think about you more today. Invade my thoughts as I seek to love you more.
You have heard the phrase all your life. Offer it up to God! Give it to God! Lord help me to not eat that sugar cookie today. (for those struggling with their weight) Just little things. Every day you will grow strong in the spirit because every day we strive to make “fresh progress” in looking more like Jesus.
What can I do today? No, I’m too busy enjoying myself OR Lord help me pray today. Help me Lord to do a little better. Help me to cultivate a little desire to grow in recollection of your greatness. Pick one, take a baby step, something you seek to nurture… to have a quietness of soul, so you can remain in the presence of god throughout the day.
Mortification… putting to death the life of sin, while deliberately growing in virtue. Making little sacrifices to help lay them down… kill them.
Stop them in the moment of my execution of them and turn them into my goals…
my offerings to Christ…right then!.. Whether it be: Food or struggling relationships. language, or anger.
Mortification… I’m not just gonna walk away from them in my will but I will offer these small sacrifices
in the spirit, right now… today… to God… Offer them up! Lay them at the foot of the cross. It may not be a big thing but it is intentional. I am leaning into offering up the bits of me that are not my finest moments. Lord, I don’t like that person, they offend me. Let me just leave the room. NO, I offer up my kind reply to God as a testimony of my love. To show myself kindly. To show the kindness of Christ in my demeanor to someone I view as, not nice, vulgar, or impolite, and I clearly have judged them.
Look at the parable of the weeds in Matt. 13: 24-43 The parable relates how servants eager to pull up weeds were warned that in so doing they would root out the wheat as well and were told to let both grow together until the harvest. I was a weed, I still have some of my weeds growing in God’s garden. My garden. The weeds represent those people who do not listen to God’s word, they are “sons of the evil one” who will go to the fiery furnace of hell at the end of time. But truth be told, I too am a person who doesn’t always listen to God’s word. I want to do it my way. We rationalize it by saying, that what I’m doing is still a good thing even though it isn’t what I know God is asking me to do. Like this rude disingenuous person THAT I want nothing to do with. God said in the passage to leave the wheat in with the weeds. Let them continue to grow up together. Some of those weeds will end up as wheat. God by his spirit, working in us will transform them and they will be saved. But we stand there as a wheat and judge the weed and say, no I want nothing to do with you. You repulse me. But God says let your light shine. God says plainly and clearly to wait. He is teaching the virtue of patience. Like the patience of God who chooses to delay his judgment.
let me close today with a quote from (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, Psychomachia): “We, body and spirit, have desires that are at odds with one another until Christ our Lord comes to help. He places the jewels of the virtues in their proper places — and in the place of sin, he builds the courts of his temple. He makes for the soul ornaments from its dark past to delight Wisdom as she reigns forever on her glorious throne.”
On Monday we begin another season of our Men’s Group Courageous. Men come together to sharpen the metal of other men. We will come in all our imperfections looking to walk with our brothers in the power of unity, forgiveness, and fellowship. We come to grow and be more like Christ a little each week. If you are in the area, let me help you find your tribe. If you came once…come again and let us help you find some new people. We need each other. Monday Febr 5th 7 pm at Grace Family Church Land O Lakes. Free Barbeque…come break bread and grow with us. Call me if you have any questions. 813 967 7127
casting crowns Only Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd3K2Fxp4&list=PL3oW2tjiIxvTstLS9GlgaT_mqONT0WVDw&index=18
