Week two of our ROOTED series at Reach! ♡
Darkness doesn’t exist. It is merely the absence of light. No wonder people feel lost when they don’t have Jesus! If he is the light of the world, they are walking in darkness. Oftentimes they don’t know any different, and they don’t know any better. That is why, as followers of Christ, we are called to be the light of the world. (Matthew 5:16)
But what does that really mean?
Well, it starts by reflecting Jesus’s light. In the same way that the moon cannot shine on its own, we have no light inside us that Jesus didn’t put there. That’s why we suffer exhaustion and burnout – even when we’re trying to do good things. Good deeds are an outpouring of our relationship with Jesus – not a way to earn it. They can’t bring us closer to Christ. Only time in the secret place can do that. And if we aren’t drawing from his love for others, we experience exhaustion. When we try to do good works in our own strength, we face burnout – which makes us incapable of truly fulfilling the desire of God’s heart. He wants us to draw close to him and reflect him, not needlessly suffer trying to produce the light ourselves. We aren’t meant to do that. And it shows. So don’t try harder. Focus on staying closer. Don’t try to fake it, ask God to grow it.
The moon can’t shine without the sun.
We can’t shine without the Son.
The Bible is like a mirror which reflects our strengths and weaknesses. We cannot shy away from the truth if we actually want to grow in our relationship with Jesus and become lights to this dark world. Growth is hard. Change is hard. Sacrifice is hard. But these things bring us closer to God, which is the ultimate prize. (James 1:22-25)
The Bible says that Jesus is the vine and we are only the branches. Without him, we can do nothing. That means we must remain connected to him in order to thrive. (John 15:5)
Let’s picture a garden for a moment. The trees are flourishing, the flower buds are opening before your eyes, and all is well. The sunshine takes care of these plants.
But there are weeds in every garden. The sun allows these to grow, but that does not make them beneficial. Over time, if left unchecked, those weeds will take over all the good plants and kill them. That is why, in the garden of our hearts, we must look very carefully at all the light reveals and remove what is hurting our spiritual growth.
Remember: A weed can be beautiful too.
Now you might be asking yourself, “How do I know the good plants from the weeds?” That’s easy. We refer to Galatians 5:22-23. What are the fruits of the Spirit? They are the good attributes Jesus gives to those who are rooted in him. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the results of a well-rooted, Spirit-filled life. The world can only offer cheap knockoffs. It will tell you that lust is actually love, conditional happiness is actually joy, and distraction is actually peace. But people who practise patience and people who wait with visible annoyance still sit at the stoplight for the same amount of time. Things are not always what they look like – enduring the waiting does not make you patient. You become patient when you give the waiting to God. Similarly, you are not being kind by lying to a friend to spare their feelings. If they are doing something they shouldn’t be, it would be unkind NOT to tell them. Because we know that sin leads to death in the end. Showing goodness is not always pleasant. Oftentimes faithfulness shows up less in a moment of temptation, and more in the conscious choice to avoid paths that could lead to temptation. Gentleness is not merely the absence of violence. Self-control is not only relevant in areas like diet and exercise.
We’ve all heard the phrase “One bad apple ruins the barrel.” But when we try to apply this to our spiritual walk, we can see that there’s another side to it. We don’t just have to watch out for the bad apples. We also have to watch out for the fake ones.
The “fruit” we see in the world is the same as those decorative snacks in a showroom. You pick it up, thinking you’re going to experience the refreshing taste of an apple, and end up with a mouthful of tough plastic-coated styrofoam.
But if you’re careful, you’ll notice the bite marks of others who have gone before you and made those mistakes already.
The Holy Spirit will guide and guard you if you’ll let him – but sometimes that guiding leads to roads we wouldn’t normally take. Sometimes that guarding means the end of a relationship. We don’t always understand why things happen the way they do, but oftentimes this is God pruning off the bad or unhelpful things so that we can grow more fruit. Jesus said he didn’t just come to give us life, but life abundantly. (John 10:10) Sometimes we have to give things up in order to burn brighter and produce the good fruit we are called to produce. But even when it hurts, he never leaves us alone there. He wants the best for us, and he wants the best for the people around us. You have never met someone whom Jesus does not love. So when you encounter someone you don’t like, remember that the fruit you are called to produce isn’t situational. God wants you to show that love, kindness, and gentleness to everyone. And he’ll give you the strength to do it.
Jonathan Edwards has a beautiful quote that states, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” In the same way, when you are struggling to be kind to someone, God will step in and give you what you need to treat them as he treated them on the cross. Not with condemnation or self-exaltation, but with self-sacrifice and dedication to the big picture over the small conflicts.
We reflect his light. We grow fruit from his Spirit in us.
So how do you move forward in the next steps of your faith? Reflect, grow, and lean on God to teach you how to do so.
Verses referenced in the sermon / small group:
~ James 1:22-25
~ Galatians 5:22-23
~ John 15:4-5
~ John 8:12
~ Matthew 5:14-16
~ Jeremiah 1:7-8
~ Mark 16:15
~ 2Timothy 2:22
~ Galatians 5:13
~ John 10:10
♡~ Skippy
