Grow Part 1
Message Summary: Every day and in everything you do, you are bearing fruit. The environment you live in produces the fruit that grows. The devil wants you to think you are powerless, but you have been given power and authority over your words, the thoughts you dwell on, and your actions. All of these things bear fruit, and all of these things are in your control. It’s important to place yourself in an environment that produces the fruit you want to bear.
Get out of the environment that keeps you from growing. If you can’t get out, maybe you are the answer to your own prayer by changing it.
If you focus on the things you can’t control, you will find yourself miserable. If you focus on what you can control, you can find peace.
1. What kind of fruit are you bearing?
2. What fruit do you want to grow? What are you doing to help it grow?
3. Do the environments you are in reflect the fruit you wish to grow within you? Are there areas you may need to remove yourself from?
4. Do you sometimes feel like you have no control over certain areas of your life?
5. Do you sometimes feel like you want to control certain things that were never meant to be in your control?
Psalm 1:3 NIV – They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
1 Timothy 1:7 NIV – For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Josiah mentioned placing yourself in an environment that’s producing the fruit you want to grow yourself. Take a look at the area you feel weakest in. Do you want to be a better husband, wife, friend, parent? Think about a person who you see thriving in your area of weakness and be intentional about spending time with him or her. Take the first step, and ask that person to coffee or dinner. Start connecting with this person regularly.