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Tag Archives: Fruits of the Flesh

Jeremiah 23:21-17

25 Jun


21 “I have not sent these prophets,
    yet they run around claiming to speak for me.
I have given them no message,
    yet they go on prophesying.
22 If they had stood before me and listened to me,
    they would have spoken my words,
and they would have turned my people
    from their evil ways and deeds.
23 Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord.
    “No, I am far away at the same time.
24 Can anyone hide from me in a secret place?
    Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”
    says the Lord.

25 “I have heard these prophets say, ‘Listen to the dream I had from God last night.’ And then they proceed to tell lies in my name. 26 How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. 27 By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.

Jeremiah 23:21-27

Dear God, verse 24 was the verse of the day for Bible Gateway, but I wanted to bring in at least the verses around it. Of course, this is you talking about the false prophets in Jeremiah’s time who were selling the people what they wanted to hear. They were doing it for all the wrong reasons. Acceptance. Influence. Notoriety. Power. Maybe even money. I wonder how many of them took their own hopes and simply ascribed them to you and then told the people, “Jeremiah’s wrong. God loves us. It’s all going to be okay.”

There are people speaking on a national level right now who I don’t trust. I guess it goes back to what Paul said in Galatians 5 about evaluating people based on their fruit. If I see someone claiming to speak for you but their fruit is “19b sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21a envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these,” then I reject them. But if I see “22b love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23a gentleness, and self-control,” then I am more likely to give them credibility.

A couple of weeks ago, I remembered this song from Steve Camp. It basically talks about believing in the wrong people. It made me wonder what he’s been up to lately, and, frankly, I was disappointed to see that nearly 35 years later it seems like he and I would disagree on who is to be trusted and who isn’t.

Father, I am fallible. I make mistakes. I can have bad judgment. I can believe in the wrong people and even the wrong things. I can defend the indefensible and ignore atrocities. Please forgive me. Please, Holy Spirit, help me and teach me. Help me to be what you and the people whose lives my life touches be blessed by you working through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2026 in Jeremiah

 

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Galatians 5:19-23 – Toxic Masculinity vs. Healthy Masculinity

28 Aug

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Galatians 5:19-23

Dear God, you know that I love the show Ted Lasso. It has a ton of worldly stuff in it, but what I discovered pretty early on is that the thing that makes the main character and then the show itself so compelling is that he exhibits most of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23. In my opinion, he has all but peace. The neat thing is that Ted’s exuberance of these traits begins to rub off on the other characters to the point that they are honored. When I watch young people react to the show they are delighted by the atmosphere Ted creates throughout.

So I was watching a YouTube video this morning on “Healthy Masculinity” as it relates to Ted Lasso. I got to thinking about it before the video even started. Just seeing the title and knowing that I liken Ted to an exhibiter of the fruits of the Spirit Paul calls out, I wondered if Jesus wasn’t a picture of “Healthy Masculinity.” That’s when my head started to swirl a little: So if Jesus is healthy masculinity, how would the Bible define toxic masculinity? That’s where Galatians 5:19-21 come in.

It’s pretty simple, really. A health man (and woman) is loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, good, kind, gentle, faithful, and in control of themselves. I don’t know how much deep thought Paul put into this list when he wrote it, but it is a great list.

On the other side, a toxic man (and woman) is sexually immoral (interesting how the first three revolve around this same theme), idolatrous (this one deserves more attention than it gets because it can be so subtle and stealthy), into mysticism, hostile, argumentative, jealous, temperamental, selfish, divisive, and not in control of themselves–looking for other things to ease pain.

I was in a safety training yesterday where we went through ways to deescalate dangerous people and situations at work. It made me think a lot about the types of people over the years who have concerned me at work. They visibly had the hostile, argumentative, jealous, and temperamental traits. Behind the scenes, they probably had several of the others. When I think about the apostles who were around Jesus, they exhibited a lot of the negative traits at one time or another. Peter could be temperamental. James and John could be selfish and divisive. Judas was selfishly ambitious. But Jesus was there showing them and even me to this day how to be a healthily masculine man.

Father, there is a national organization in our area that claims you as their head, but the fruit that I see from them in of the world. They idolize power. They are divisive. They are selfish. And I can struggle with some of these things as well. I’m not saying I don’t. I just know I am doing my best to recognize those things and repent of them. So for those who are out there, whether they are in this organization, with this organization in spirit (lowercase s), or supportive of them in some way, but they claim to call on you, please help them to recognize the fruit of the flesh they are allowing to grow. Help them to open their eyes and see the difference between what Jesus wanted us to be and what Judas wanted us to be. If Judas had been setting the agenda for Jesus, I cannot help but think it would have looked a lot like Christian Nationalism. Why? Because it has all the hallmarks of toxicity, whether masculine or feminine. And if my eyes are blind t certain things about myself that need to be revealed to me, please let me know. I am sorry for my sin. I am sorry for the things I give in to that are in verses 19-21. I’m not perfect. I’m not there yet. But I am grateful to be on this journey with you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 28, 2024 in Galatians

 

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