Fruit of the Spirit Series: Introduction

This blog series will be about the nine fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

          However, before I start the series, I wish to speak a few words about the fruits of the Spirit in a general way. First of all, as you might notice from experience, several Christians you know, including ourselves, do not experience or exhibit these fruits of the spirit; moreover, there are a few Christians I know who show none of these nine fruit. Does this mean that this person is not saved? Maybe, but I would not be so hasty to come to that conclusion. Like I said, we do not exhibit all these qualities all the time and, also, some people have come from difficult backgrounds. The point is that just because the Holy Spirit resides in all of us upon receiving Christ does not mean that all of these fruit show up at the same time. Instead, it would be more appropriate to say that these nine qualities are the "fruit" of the Spirit's labor in your life over time and come with maturity. This is consistent with the passage in verses 16 through 18, which says,

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

         Thus, we experience these fruits of the Spirit as we grow in maturity and godliness (for more details on this process, refer back to my earlier post, "A Pattern of Growth: 2 Peter 1:5-7", where I discuss the details and action steps of growing in maturity. You will see that the fruit of the Spirit discussed in this series will begin to show up in the stage I called 'Godliness'.) These fruit cannot be forced through willpower, good acts, or good intentions, but are the result of spending lots of meaningful time with God (aka spiritual disciplines).
         Additionally, I've found that these fruit of the Spirit are a really great tool for assessing if something is an idol. Galatians 5 tells us that the nine fruit are the result of a relationship with God. However, if you are personally reflecting on your values and realize that you are trying to gain the fruit of the Spirit through pursuing something besides God, that something is an idol for you. For instance, I once had a friend counseling someone who said that he had to get into a relationship with a specific girl because he wouldn't feel any peace without having the situation resolved and couldn't push himself to be patient or self-controlled until he and the girl had made some sort of solid commitment to each other. If you're paying attention, you can see that he listed three fruits of the Spirit as impossible to get except through a relationship with this girl. Clearly, this relationship was an idol, and my friend was able to council the guy better once we had applied the fruit of the Spirit rule. (You may remember that I have a past two part series on this blog called "Heavenly Wisdom". This verse is actually a helpful addition to those two verses when it comes to making difficult decisions. As with the other two, this passage has been really life changing and has guided me through very dark and cloudy waters.)
          An additional nugget of wisdom comes from the end part of Galatians 5:23:

Against such things there is no law.

          To be succinct, try to avoid following rules/standards that tell you to avoid using one of the fruit of the Spirit since such a rule is likely not meant to make you more Christ-like. For instance, depending on one's background, a guy might have been raised with his peers telling him that gentleness is a sign of weakness and should be avoided. While this is an obvious example, it shows that a lot of what our culture tells us to do and be will contradict the fruit of the Spirit and thus should be ignored in such instances.
          To conclude this general conversation on the fruit of the Spirit, let it suffice to say that these fruit are developed through spiritual disciplines over time and are essential to life and ministry. However, the point of this series will be focused on these nine fruit as standards for godly living. Therefore, while we develop these fruit over time and these fruit are the work of the Spirit instead of our own willpower, there are some very real ways in which we are called to emulate these nine fruit and track our progress in becoming Christ-like. To this end, I will do my best to clarify what the Bible teaches about these nine qualities and challenge you to seek growth in all nine ways. However, let me warn that this should not be used as a tool of guilt and self-condemnation, but should be pursued in the grace of God. 1 Peter 5:10 tells us that

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

          This verse is saying that, as we pursue God's glory, we will grow weak and maybe even falter, but we shouldn't let that discourage us, but rather trust God to give us the strength and grace to live out the godly life (there is a lot more written on this theme in my post "From Favoritism to Flourishing- Part 7 of 9: Grace Abounds: 2 Corinthians 9:8". Bear with me as I reference my own work, lol.)
           The next post on this blog will start the fruit of the Spirit series with the first fruit: love. Until then...
In Christ,
Simeon Snow

Test Everything: 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

         Today's post is about a  fairly simple idea that is often repeated in scripture, but is forgotten by many Christians today. Let's start out with 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22:

21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

          We, as Christians, are called to examine whatever enters our lives, whether it be a friend, thought, hobby, etc. to see if it draws us closer to God. This command tells us to not be passive about what we let into our lives. If we sense that a violent video game pulls us away emotionally or spiritually from our relationship with God, it needs to be weeded out. This process of weeding out what is bad and embracing what is good should be led by what we see in the Bible and prayer. This idea comes from 1 Timothy 4:4-5, which says:

4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

         (More thoughts and explanation of this particular passage can be found in my earlier blog series, Heavenly Wisdom) As I mentioned earlier, what needs to be grown in or thrown out can be a variety of things from hobbies to friendships. For example, we shouldn't develop deep friendships with just anyone because 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us:

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

          and Proverbs 13:20 says:

 20 He who walks with the wise grows wise,
    but a companion of fools suffers harm.

          We do not enter into meaningful friendships with people who will draw us away from God. This is not to forbid non-Christian friendships at all, but it does mean that the inner group of friends that you let speak into your life need to be mature Christians who are encouraging you to grow in your relationship with God. They will be the ones who will guide and strengthen you through your times of weakness and confusion.
         From my last post, you can already see that we need to check thoughts as they are entering our mind to see if they will benefit us or not. For review, Philippians 4:8 says:

 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

          A similar word in 1 John 4:1-3 tells us not to let ideas that come from influential speakers or any other "spirit" (maybe in the form of a thought) stay in your mind without examining it to see if it is from God:

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

          This passage warns us of the multitude of false teachings in the world and tells us that we need to examine ideas that enter our life to make sure that they do not contradict the Bible and sound doctrine. We are told to reject these false ideas even if the source is very convincing! Paul affirms this in Galatians 1:8-9

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

          In conclusion to this line of thought, we need to consider not only our own needs and walk with God, but we also need to consider the needs of those around us. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says:

23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

          and Ephesians 4:29 says:

 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

           Try and make a habit of pausing once or twice a day to ask yourself if what you are currently doing or thinking is helping you draw close to God, hurting that relationship, or is neutral. Developing a testing attitude over time requires practice, but draws great benefits.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow

Healthy Thinking: Philippians 4:8

           Today's blog entry is a break down and analysis of an important verse in the Bible: Philippians 4:8. While this verse may seem to be all about "happy thoughts", I wish to show that it is an essential part of the Christian lifestyle that empowers the Christian to live a godly life. To start out with, here is Philippians 4:8:

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

          TRUE
            Let's start with the word 'true'. I would describe this adjective in terms of trying to only think about things that we know for sure. For instance, you see two of your acquaintances looking your way and lean into each other to laugh and whisper. This would be an easy time to think that they are saying something negative or degrading about you. However, you do not know if your suspicion is true or not. Since you cannot prove it to be true, it is very pointless to try and figure out why they were laughing about you since you do not even know if you were the topic of their conversation or not. There are several other great examples of this kind of thought, like wondering what someone's opinion is, obsessing on whether your attractive friend is interested in you, or trying to predict what God will do in your life in the distant future. These are all examples of thoughts that waste time or even hurt the believer. What tends to happen when we are meditating on what is uncertain is that we fill the unknown void with our anxieties and fantasies. For instance, if I see people who I believe to be laughing at me, I will quickly jump to the conclusion that they are laughing about my biggest insecurity, whether that be a flaw in my posture, appearance, action, beliefs, or any number of things. Satan also makes big use of these opportunities to manipulate us into believing anything. This idea is shown in 1 Peter 5:7-8:

7 Cast all your anxiety on [God] because he cares for you.
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

          Since our anxieties are openings that allow our enemy in, we are told to be self-controlled. As it says, we are to control our thought life by casting our anxiety on God. If we do not practice self-discipline, our hearts will be guided to wherever Satan would wish and leave us in a timid and paralyzed state. This is not God's will for us, as shown in 2 Timothy 1:7:

 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

           To exercise this self-discipline and power in the thought life, limit the amount of thinking you do about things that you do not know to be true. It may not always be bad to wonder about what could be, but, more often than not, we need to focus on what God has given us to do or plan today. This is why Matthew 6:34 tells us

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

           and James 4:13-17 says

 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

         My next section will deal with some of the adjectives that are virtually synonymous:
        NOBLE, RIGHT, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT, PRAISEWORTHY
       This has to deal with seeing the best in people and in our days and learning to affirm and focus on those positive aspects rather than entirely focus on what is negative. Now, unlike what the world would tell you, there actually are times when confronting negative behavior is the right thing to do and it is alright to think about and mentally prepare for such a confrontation. However, the way to do this is not to constantly meditate on the wrong that is being committed and the anger that comes with that thought. Such thoughts get us nowhere, hurt us, and open up opportunities for Satan to do damage. Look at Ephesians 4:26-27:

26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

          Another great verse for this discussion is Colossians 3:12-14:

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

         Whatever the situation, we are told to have the right heart about it and not let those negative thoughts dominate our lives. They can and will consume us. Instead, we are to think and meditate upon what is positive in our lives. This is all part of the spiritual discipline of Thanksgiving, where we process all the blessings that God has given us and let that remembrance empower us to pursue God in the future. Let us not forget what God has done, as some did in Psalm 106:11-13:

11 The waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
    and did not wait for his counsel.

           Instead, may we cry with David in Psalm 77:10-11:

 10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

          This remembrance will draw us deeper into our relationship with God and sanctify us. This process is shown right before our theme verse in Philippians 4:6-7:

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

          Changing our thought life in this way will also expand God's kingdom and push out Satan's, as shown in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:

 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

          Let us continue on to what is
         PURE
         Let's start off with the smaller idea of sexually pure thoughts, as shown in Matthew 5:28:

28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

         and Job 31:1:

1 “I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a girl.

         However, I would like to expand that idea to thinking that stays pure in our commitment to God. Another way to say this is to not think of anything as having more value than God and to meditate with love and awe on who God is and what he has done. This is also known as delighting ourselves in God. This kind of thinking will fulfill us like nothing else in the world can. Psalm 37:4 speaks of this:

4 Delight yourself in the Lord
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

          Finally, let us discuss what is
          LOVELY 
         From what I've seen, Satan sometimes attacks people by putting ugly thoughts in their minds. These can come in the form of nightmares or just random thoughts about horrible and grotesque things. If these thoughts come to mind, please be aware that it might be spiritual attack that is coming against you. To fight this, arm yourself mentally by thinking about the lovely things that come from God. Look at Ephesians 6:10-12:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

        These are all the thoughts that I can currently conjure up on the topic of the thought life. Please consider my thoughts and the topic and see if you can apply them. Growing in this area has impacted all the areas of my life and I would love to help you achieve the same. If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact me.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow

God's Side: 1 Samuel 4:3

           Today's message is about adopting a particular attitude toward all of the opinions that you form over a lifetime. There is a degree to which Christians believe that all of their opinions and ideals are based directly from the Word of God and thus should themselves be infallible. Now, there are definitely some pretty sure positions on what the Bible tells us is right from wrong. However, apart from that, we need to recognize our own fallen nature whenever we form these opinions, especially when we start to believe that these opinions come from God himself. I was reading through the beginning of 1 Samuel and I was struck by a passage where the Israelites had just been thoroughly defeated by the Philistines. 1 Samuel 4:3 continues:

3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

          Instead of asking if God was displeased with something, they proceeded to call forth the ark of the Lord to make sure that they would win next time. Now, to put this in context, the two sons of Eli the priest, Hophni and Phinehas, were leading the people in wickedness, God had already confronted their father about the nature of their evil, and Eli was not able and/or fully willing to convince them to turn from their evil ways. The people of Israel, fully knowledgeable about these state of affairs, must not have thought God was too concerned about this wickedness that was being allowed in the kingdom when they called forth the ark of the Lord to the battlefield with Hophni and Phinehas leading the way. It may strike you as interesting that this is one of the few times that Israel calls upon and depends on the Lord to deliver the day, but he ignores their plea. So, as you can predict, verses 10-11 tell us that

10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

         Do I need to mention again that these people viewed themselves as having God on their side of the battle? How many times in our different social, relational, and political spheres do we assume that God is on our side without question? As much as we expect ourselves able to discern God's side from scripture, there is a place for fear and awe that comes from our inability to read God's mind. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

            and, about our plans, James 4:13-16 says:

 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

          When we make plans and form sides on important issues, we need to keep a listening ear to God's voice and never assume that we've got God's opinion fully understood. Heed the warning of Proverbs 18:2:

 2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
    but delights in airing his own opinions.

            Instead, as wise Christian men and women, we are supposed to be open to correction and growth and be willing to work with people of different positions except in cases of clear contradiction of God's Word. Instead be like the wise man of Proverbs 12:15

 15 The way of a fool seems right to him,    but a wise man listens to advice.

            The Bible actually advises us that, in some small matters, that there is room to keep one's opinions private in order to preserve peace. Romans 14:19-22 says

 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

            It is not wrong to take a position on an issue or to advocate it publicly, but what I am advising is to use wisdom and discretion in when and how you express these opinions and to keep a humble mind about what your opinion actually is: an opinion. God cannot be controlled and be drafted into whatever army we choose him to be in. Therefore, as we seek to know the mind of God, let us treat him with reverence and respect. A similar point came from Abraham Lincoln: (who, as most Christians would admit, was on the right side of his war, but still said) "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right".
           The opposite of my initial story, where the Israelites called forth the ark to support their side without question, is when David tells his followers to take the ark back to Jerusalem when they are hoping to help him with it as he flees the evil plans of his son, Absalom, in 2 Samuel 15:25-26:

25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.

             In closing, Hebrews 12:14-15 sums up my message here:

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

In Christ,
Simeon Snow

Instructed Sinners: Psalm 25: 8-9

              Today's post focuses on a part of faith that can be hard to deal with: How do I approach God after sinning? The natural reaction of most of us, me included, has been to pull away from God and wait for the feelings of guilt and shame to subside before approaching God again. Other natural reactions include trying to do something to repay God for his "loss" and approaching him once we've paid "the bill", whether that be through prayer or confessing our sins several times. First of all, this thought is completely out of line with scripture. God is not damaged by our sin at all. Check out Job 35:6-8:

6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
    If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
    or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself,
    and your righteousness only the sons of men.

          Next, then, is to receive a word of instruction from the Lord: We are to turn immediately to face him. Even if we sinned just a moment ago, there is no other response than to run straight into his arms. This response is validated in sections like Isaiah 55:7:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
    and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

         But does this make any sense at all? Why would God accept us back without even the slightest slap on  the back of the head? God responds in the following verse:

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

          God tells us that we will never be able to understand why we can run straight back to him. In other words, turning straight back to God probably won't make sense when you've just committed a sin, whether it be lust, lying, or (God-forbid) murder. There are consequences for our actions, of course, and the Bible talks plenty about our God of justice as well as the need to take accountability for our actions. However, this doesn't mean that God will reject us if we immediately turn back to him with a repentant heart. God will never reject that kind of spirit. Psalm 51:17 says:

17 The sacrifices of God are[a] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart,
    O God, you will not despise.

          John 6:37 says:

 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

          Ezekiel 33:12 continues this theme and adds a note that good works will never be able to counteract God's judgement.

12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.’

           This may seem funny to you, but from my experience, there is usually a "post-temptation" where Satan tempts you to focus on yourself after you sin. Many times, this might be Satan's goal in tempting you to sin in the first place since discouraging and distracting you from your ministry might slow down the work of the gospel or of edification in the lives of fellow believers. Resist the desire to focus on your sin nature, appease God, or immediately make a list of reforms to improve yourself, but rather focus on immediately running into the arms of God. After you have reengaged your relationship with God, you can address the sin issue and be empowered to confront it through God's love and grace. This brings me to the theme verse of this post: Psalm 25:8-9:

8 Good and upright is the Lord;    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.9 He guides the humble in what is right    and teaches them his way.

            God teaches sinners about himself (we are all sinners, by the way). He guides the humble in his ways. If we train ourselves to react to our sin nature by running to God in humility, we will defeat Satan's plans to use the sin to focus on and drag ourselves through hurtful and wasteful systems that seek to appease God through good works. After you sin, all God wants is you. Nothing else will satisfy him. Admit that you sinned, repent, and turn to his face. This will actually help you to become Christ-like much quicker than any system that you could invent on your own, as attested to in Colossians 2:20-23:

20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

          If there any special questions that you need to address about these issues, just let me know and I'll do my best to respond in a wise and discerning manner.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow

Using Worldly Wealth: Luke 16:9

         Today's entry is based on a parable that doesn't seem to get much attention, but can teach us some very practical lessons. This is the parable of the shrewd manager at the beginning of Luke 16. To start off with, the concluding thought in Luke 16:9 is

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

            This verse tells us that we need to use our wealth to develop friendships. People respond well to gifts and kindness, so it is possible to open locked relational doors with our resources. The verse points out that this money will disappear anyway, so we might as well have something eternal in our possession once that money is gone. This is a great avenue for ministry that can be approached in several ways. For instance, one can host an international student, throw social parties, or take people out for a meal. These specific gifts not only give money to someone who needs it,  but each of these contexts involves face to face time that could lead to spiritual conversations. Here is the parable in its entirety:

1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Eight hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

           You may have heard of "lobbying", otherwise known as "wining and dining", before. This happens when a company or other organization sends a representative to a political leader to treat them to dinner and give various gifts in order to win them over to the side of the company. Millions of dollars are spent every year in this pursuit, which goes to show that lobbying actually works. What the world understands about making friends is often overlooked by Christians who want to build relationships solely off of their charm and personality. Interestingly enough, however, Jesus tells us in this parable to use material means, in addition to our love and gentleness, to win people over. Some verses with a similar theme are 1 Peter 4:10:

10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

         and Proverbs 19:6:

 6 Many curry favor with a ruler,
    and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts.

          Some other practical ideas for making friends with money include: buying attractive clothing (or otherwise improving one's appearance), decorating one's house so guests will come back again, starting up a common interest club, surprising someone with a special gift, or sponsoring a group trip or other vacation.
          A warning to this advice is to do all of these actions in the right heart. If we are building this influence for a reason other than loving God or loving people, we will become easily ensnared by the traps of the enemy, become manipulative, or start to build one's self esteem off of other's opinions. Also, it is important that your friendships don't become dependent on this wealth and end up becoming completely shallow and material. In spite of all this, there have been times where I had enough money to apply these concepts and found great success in starting and building friendships with these techniques. See what creative ideas you can come up with to garner friendships!
In Christ,
Simeon Snow

Word Harvest: Proverbs 12:14-16

          The book of Proverbs has many treasures and this particular passage has meant more and more to me as time has passed, so I want to briefly share my thoughts on it today. Proverbs 12:14-16 has three separate pieces of advice, but I wish to put the last two pieces of advice under the umbrella of the first one to give you my perspective. Here is Proverbs 12:14-16:

14 From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
    as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.
15 The way of a fool seems right to him,
    but a wise man listens to advice.
16 A fool shows his annoyance at once,
    but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

           The first verse tells us that what our future looks like will be shaped by the words that we use today. They chart our course for the future and affect how our relationships form over time. James 3:3-5 expresses similar thoughts:

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark

         This verse tells us that large parts of our lives and whole relationships can be directed by the tongue. The Proverbs passage goes so far as to say that we can bet on the fruit of our words as much as we are guaranteed our wages from our jobs. Going on, verse 15 says that only foolish people believe that they are right in every situation, but that wise people are open to being wrong and corrected. The response that we give with our words to criticism shapes our character. If we use sarcasm and defensive comments to deflect constructive criticism, we start cycles of destructive behavior that leave us stunted in our growth. Not only so, but someone who willingly takes advice is more likely to receive the same kind of advice in the future, which adds to a cycle of growth as honest relationships begin to flourish.
         Also, in verse 16, we can see that the same tongue can shape how we relate to those people who annoy or insult us. We are supposed to respond to this kind of person in love, like in Romans 12:17-21:

 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

        If we don't clamp down our tongues to keep us from lashing out, we will lose the opportunity to live out this passage before we even have the time to remember it. This is the same thought that is behind James 1:19-20:

19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

        If we allow our tongue to attack people, we will lose our ability to reconcile our enemies to both God and ourselves. Righteous wrath was never meant to be loosed in an uncontrolled way. This is shown to be in the character of God in Nahum 1:2-3a:

 2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
    the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
    and maintains his wrath against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. 

        This blog post is but a short summary of the good and evil that can come from the tongue, but I think it suffices in showing how careful we should be in using our tongue to build up relationships as well as God's kingdom. While there are different times for loving, gentle language or righteous anger, the one consistent theme is thoughtfulness and discernment. Reflect on which response would draw the other person closer to God. For this reason, I close with Proverbs 26: 4-5:

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you will be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes