What Is Your Faith Growing in You?
The people closest to us live with the results of our theology. What are they actually experiencing—patience, kindness, love, or just our certainty?
By Pastor Chris Cahill · 2 minute read · Reflection
We can give a lovely speech about grace. Then the plans change, we are tired, and somebody gets the sharp end of our tongue. The people closest to us meet our faith there, too. What are they receiving?
Galatians 5 names love, patience, kindness, gentleness, and other fruit of the Spirit. We can bring those words close to the life we actually share.
Look for fruit, not a sales pitch
Galatians 5:22–23 names love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are qualities of a life lived among other people.
Growth may look like a pause before the snap, a truth spoken without cruelty, or a correction received without a courtroom defense. Small changes matter. We do not need to turn each one into an advertisement for our spiritual progress.
Do not turn growth into another performance
A difficult season does not establish that someone lacks faith. Grief, exhaustion, and suffering can make ordinary tasks demanding. We should be careful about judging a person’s spiritual life from a brief encounter.
Examine your own habits with honesty and grace. What needs tending? Where do you need help? We can face a harmful pattern without declaring ourselves hopeless, and admit a hard season without pretending everything is improving.
Choose one practice, then return
Read a short passage of Scripture. Give a few quiet minutes to prayer. Make one act of care specific enough to complete. At the end of the day, ask where you were present and where you withdrew.
Owe an apology? Make it without the escape hatch of “but.” Need rest? Say so. Keep causing the same harm? Seek help. Our spiritual practices should help us live truthfully, especially when the truth costs us something.
Return to the practice tomorrow. The point is not to build an impressive record. It is to become more available to God and to the people whose lives touch yours.
Choose one practice today and return tomorrow. Let growth take a human pace. The aim is for the people near us to receive more patience, honesty, and care, not a better performance.
Read a little further
- Adapted from the supplied manuscript: Growing in Grace
- Galatians 5:22–23 — read the passage in context
Related book: Growing in Grace
Faith, hope, and love in action through Christ and kindness.
