Wallace SC&W
Rev. Stephen C. Wallace
SPIRITUAL MATURING BY OPENING UP
Fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23
Spiritual Maturity is not all about what we can achieve and do.
It is not just about the actions we take. It is also about how
much we allow Christ to dwell in us. We are told that the Spirit
offers us fruit that will bless us and others. Yet we often close
ourselves off from these blessings. How open are you to receiving
these gifts from the Holy Spirit?
Patience:
1. How often, this past week, have you been ‘short’ with a family
member/friend/stranger or
yourself? Why?
___ Not at all
___ Once: ___________________________________
___ A Few Times: _____________________________
___ Often: ___________________________________
___ Constantly: _______________________________
2. List on a scale of 1-10 how patient you are in each of these situations:
___ With family
___ At Work
___ In Public Situations (restaurants, stores, etc.)
___ With technology
___ In Traffic
___ On Vacation
___ Under Stress
___ Other: ___________________________________
3. What issues or situations do you have the least patience about?
Why? _______________________________________________
4. What makes you impatient with a family/friend/situation?
(check all that apply)
___ Failure to do what I asked or to meet my needs
___ The pace of what is done
___ Confusion about the situation
___ Outside influences (e.g. job)
___ Unreal expectations
___ Responsibility
___ Alcohol or drugs
___ Lack of energy
___ Repeated offense or hardship
___ Other _____________________________________
5. Where have you grown in patience in a situation that once
frustrated you? What was it?
___ At home: ___________________________________
___ At work: ___________________________________
___ With life situation:_____________________________
___ With health: _________________________________
___ With another person: __________________________
___ Other _____________________________________
6. How hard do you find it to ‘wait upon the Lord’ to take care of things?
___ Impossibly in some situations
___ Very Hard
___ Usually OK
___ Almost always OK
___ Never a problem
7. What is waiting like for you?
___ Lonely
___ Stressful
___ Confusing
___ Fearful of: __________________________________
___ Depressing
___ Eagerly Anticipating
___ Peaceful
___ Distracting (lose focus)
___ Other: _____________________________________
8. What is your response when God doesn’t act on your timeline?
(choose one)
___ Give up on God
___ Do my own thing and hope God will come along
___ Do nothing but get resentful
___ Do nothing but become discouraged and down
___ Look for why God might not be acting as I want when I want
___ Trust that God is working on my behalf and will reveal things
at the right time
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The Next Step: How to Grow in your Spiritual Maturity
(specific suggestion to questions in the inventory are labeled Q +
the number of the question)
Patience:
Q.1/2 -Identify in what situation or to what person you need to show
patience/give grace. Where do you need to pray for God’s filling of patience?
Why do you find yourself inpatient in these situations? Create or find something
to be a reminder to help you bring grace to your circumstances (e.g. a note
on refrigerator or desk, symbol carried in your pocket). Identify and list some
ways for you to bring patience into a situation (e.g. deep breaths, ask for a
break and move out of the tense situation, think of something humorous,
remember something you value about the other person, remind yourself
of God’s valuing of you and ask for the Lord to show you how to be a
blessing in the situation). Use the interruption to pray or to give praise
to God.
Q.3 -Patience is often related to how well we give ‘grace’ to others.
List numerous ways that you have been shown ‘grace’, forgiveness or
patience. What would your life be like without this ‘grace’/patience/
forgiveness shown to you? Think about God’s love of people. How
does God’s valuing of people, even those you find frustrating, change
your view of them or response to them?
Q.4 -Impatience often causes us to miss things that are important or
that hold blessings. Make a patience journal that lists what things each
day challenge your patience or help you to have patience. List quotes
on patience and put suggestions for how to enhance your patience.
Also list in it what you have missed out on because of a lack of patience
and the things that you have gained because of patience.
When you experience delays look around for things to enjoy, learn from,
or opportunities to be a gift to another. A lack of patience is sometimes
the result of not understanding another or from misunderstanding them
or the situation. How much effort do you put into understanding the
other or the whole situation? Why did you put in that amount of effort?
Would more effort have helped change things for the better? Is there a
situation that you need to work to better understand or to understand
from a different perspective? List what you will do to obtain that
understanding?
Q.5 – GREAT! Celebrate! Go out to dinner to celebrate or have your
favorite cup of Java or a Dr. Pepper. Buy a helium balloon and put in
at your dinning room table as a reminder. Get a bouquet of flowers.
Share it with a friend and tell him/her why this was important to you.
Give yourself an extra 5 minutes to read or sleep.
Q.6 -Study the topic of patience in Scripture (e.g. Proverbs 19:11,
25:15, Ecclesiastes 7:8, Romans 2:1-6, Colossians 3:12-13,
Hebrews 6:10-12, James 5:7-11, Psalm 5:3, 27:11-14, 37:7).
Q.7/8 –What is hard about waiting on God? What fears arise when
God doesn’t act immediately as you desire? What do these feelings
or reasons for impatience say about how you view God or believe
about God? Are there things about your relationship with God that
need to be strengthened or to grow? List the steps you will take to
make that happen.
Change often challenges our patience. Understanding how and why
people deal with change can help us grow in patience instead of being
frustrated by what seems to be stubbornness or randomness. Study the
characteristics of how people accept change in order to better understand
what they are thinking, wishing for and struggling against (e.g. Everett
M. Rogers innovation acceptance chart-Diffusion of Innovation, 1962
-- http://education.ed.pacificu.edu/bcis/workshop/adoption.html)
