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Casey is a new author, wife, and mother of two. She enjoys time with her family doing simple things like movie nights and cooking together. Her family lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia.
Casey and I are talking about one of my very favorite topics, the fruit of the Spirit, and we’re going to kind of go through each one of the fruits that are in the proverbial basket, unpack them all, and talk about what it looks like to be producing good fruit in our life. You know this verse is one of my favorites. It’s Galatians 5:22-23…“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Casey starts off by diving into what exactly we mean by fruit of the Spirit and she shares that it really is about how we become like Jesus and how we can be like Jesus to the rest of the world. Those characteristics are what help our sanctification process and our spiritual growth so that we can be more like Christ to the world. I’ve talked before on the podcast about pursuing holiness, and what that really means is striving to be more like Jesus, to live and to love well, to learn to be more like Him, to crave to be more like him, to want to know him, to want to walk in his ways, and to want to live our lives in a way that reflects how He lived His life and His great love. And I think that living out the fruit of the Spirit is an awesome way to do all of those things and to reflect Him and to reflect His love and to let His light shine through us.
So let’s go ahead and unpack each fruit!
Love
This is the one that everybody talks about all the time. You know the verse, love your neighbor as yourself. But one of the biggest things that I think is hard for people to understand, or really grasp is the strength it takes to love people truly the way we’re called to. It requires intention and action. John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment, love each other in the same way I have loved you.” So obviously, people know that they need to love each other. But Casey shares how in recent years, the thing that God has drawn her to is the fact that it says, “in the same way I have loved you.” We need to be reminded that that’s how we are supposed to love…with that unconditional strength and we do that through the strength that God gives us.
Joy
You know I’m all about joy over here! Casey shares about the difference between happiness and joy and that the only way to find true, lasting, steadfast joy is by having peace and hope in Christ. Happiness is more of this thing that kind of fluctuates with our circumstances, but if we have our foundation in Christ, we should have this constant base of joy. And I couldn’t agree with her more. Happiness is a choice. It’s like this fleeting feeling but joy is deep-rooted. It’s like a state of being, it’s who we are. And it should be showing and flowing from within us and the way that we live our lives and ultimately pointing others back to Jesus.
Peace
Something that Casey has learned about peace is that it requires us to give up that control. Satan loves to mess with our mind and take away our peace. But to be able to have the peace that God offers us, we have to be willing to give Him our lives, give Him our worries and ask Him to work in our minds and give us that lasting peace. Because it is only through God that we’re going to find that calming everlasting peace.
I think so many of us wrestle with control and so I just think that’s so good. Romans 8:6 says, “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” So not only should we be giving up our plans and control to God, but we should be giving Him everything in our lives and allowing Him to give us peace in our minds. I think especially as women, we spend so much time worrying and not even feeling comfortable sharing that worry with people. And so just to be reminded that God not only is willing to hear us, but He wants us to tell Him and to tell Him multiple times…bring it all to Him as many times as you need to get that strength and that peace that you need.
I did a podcast episode on anxiety a few weeks ago and there were women, from all walks of life all over the country coming to me and telling me how they wrestle with anxiety and worry and control and that episode was so helpful to them. But one of the things I shared inside of that episode was worshiping your way out of worry and anxiety. So, when our heart is turned to a place of worship, and talking to God, it leaves very little room left for worry and anxiety and it is one step towards that peace that we’re talking about.
Casey shares how as a mom of young children, she can’t always get away in those moments where she really needs peace, but she has learned that it helps to soak in what her daughter calls “Jesus music”. And so just finding ways to open that door and allow God to meet me you where you are, even as a mother with young children, is so important. And He is there. If you need to be renewed and you’re willing to open that door and connect with him, He will be there.
A lot of times when I’m working with moms, I’m sharing with them that one of the best pieces of scripture that you can memorize in your heart, your mind and your spirit and even teach your kids to memorize is the fruit of the Spirit because it’s so applicable in motherhood. Some of these are really tough to live out. But they are so good to live out and they will improve our lives in so many ways and help us in any facet of life.
Patience
People inevitably test our patience, and our kids inevitably test our patience. People are just people and we just have to learn to react the way God calls us to, regardless of what their behavior or their words are. It’s easy to impulsively react in unloving ways and let’s be honest, sometimes the world will validate reactions that are not loving. The world will convince us our reactions are okay when the Spirit convicts us otherwise because the reality is that God calls us to something else. And to love others requires patience for us to be like Christ and to share Christ with others.
Kindness
Kindness is very much tied to grace. Grace means to show kindness by definition, even when it’s not deserved…which is what God does for us. And it’s important to understand that kindness originated with God. That’s what we kind of envision as kindness is God. So we have to lean into Him to be able to be kind and give grace to others. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 says, “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, ‘At just the right time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Indeed, the right time is now, today is the day of salvation.” So it’s reminding us that we need to make sure we not only accept it, but also make sure that we share that with others.
Goodness
Casey talks about how for years, her dad would always say to them as they left the house, “Be good”.
But the question is, what does it really mean to do good for God? What it essentially means is the idea of living out your testimony and whatever God calls you to. We have to be open and willing to not only share the good news, which is the call for all of us as Christians but specifically to share our story for God’s glory. Everybody’s way of doing good will look a little different. But you have to lean into God to see what paths He guides you through and the people that he pulls into your life so that you can do good for them.
Faithfulness
We need to be responding to God’s faithfulness with our own faithfulness. Casey mentioned how we need to be reminding ourselves that everything we have comes from Him, from finances to time to our children. So we need to be responding to the gospel and the grace and the hope that we’ve been given by living a grateful life towards God who has given it all to us. On a few podcast episodes back, I talked about the secret of life which was all about faithfulness and the biblical principle of being faithful and being a good steward and being diligent with what God has trusted us with.
Gentleness
Gentleness means to be humble and compassionate. There are so many verses that specifically talk about Christ being humble and compassionate and having a heart for others. And His whole mission while he was here on Earth, was to lead and guide and teach from a humble and compassionate perspective, allowing people to approach him in a loving way and teaching them in a loving way. So making sure that we have that same gentle approach with everyone we encounter is so important. Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Clothe yourselves with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you.” This idea of gentleness and forgiveness is not always easy. Honestly, a lot of times it’s very difficult because the people we need to forgive the most make it difficult. But that is what we’re called to do.
Self-Control
The reality is that we all struggle with self-control. And God knows and recognizes that and so we really just need to dive into Scripture and allow the Spirit to work in that space. In Casey’s book, she dives into three topics around self-control: controlling our anger, our words, and complaining.
Something that she spoke about, which I know is relatable for so many moms is the anger she experienced after becoming a mom. But she shares how when she feels herself getting frustrated and angry, those are the moments where she leans into God’s grace and peace through worship music. She also shares about how powerful our words are and shares James 3:9 which is all about the power of the tongue and says, “Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.” So we just need to remind ourselves that we need to make sure that our words are always loving and kind and filled with grace.
My little sister, Dori, came on the podcast a few weeks ago to share about her struggles with anger and self-control in motherhood and how she overcame it. And I think it’s so important that women hear that they’re not alone. Absolutely that none of us are alone in this and there’s nothing wrong with you as a mother in feeling that way. It really is just grace upon grace upon grace.
How and Why to Produce More Good Fruit
I absolutely loved what Casey shared when I asked her this question which is that we have to remember and remind ourselves that none of it is in our own strength. We have to allow God and the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. It’s all about spiritual growth and allowing God to work in those areas where you’re struggling. We have to be willing to be molded and guided through the Holy Spirit and He will inevitably give us an abundance so that we can pour into others.
As followers of Christ, we have to be willing to fully embrace what the gospel means, not only for ourselves, but to share it with the world as we are called to do. We always hear people saying that you have to be all in but you can’t be fully in Christ without being willing to allow spiritual growth in your life and be willing to share the good news and gospel with others. We should be producing good fruit as we follow Jesus, and it’s this awesome means of like letting His light gently shine through us in a way that other people say, “I want some of that.” So ultimately, it is a reflection of Him and His great love for us.
I’m so excited because Casey’s book, Abundant Fruit: Cultivating fruit of the Spirit for spiritual growth, is available now! It is a 28-day devotional for moms and Casey shares about how this book really came out of a low place in her life and allowed her to grow and really is a testimony of her story. You can check it out on Amazon and dive more into learning about the fruit of the Spirit and how to live it out in every area of your life.
Connect with Casey!
- Hang out on Instagram and Facebook
- Check out her website
- Connect via email
