Month 4: The Fruit of Faithfulness
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
INTRODUCTION
Scripture talks about faithfulness as one of God’s character traits and part of the fruit of the Spirit. For this month we will look at the fruit of gentleness.
-
Description text goes hereSome of you might choose to do it all in one sitting. Some of you may do one section per day. Some of you might work through it multiple times. We truly want this to work FOR you! Our prayer is that you’ll feel a sense of joy that comes from spending time in communion with God and then with others as you live out the “practices” you’ll be invited to each week. If your participation ever feels burdensome, then take a break! The Neuma Project exists to assist in your discipleship - both individually and communally with others at FPC, and in your neighborhoods. It doesn’t exist to guilt you into time spent in the word and community. (though if you need a little push, we’re fine to allow this to do that)
-
Our vision is that this will be something your family can do together. We will always include a “Neuma Kids” section that you can do with your littles.
We also believe teenage kids can participate in all of the content as well as adults, bringing their own insights and questions. HOWEVER, we are well aware teens + parents + faith conversations can be tricky. For this reason, during Act II on Sunday mornings teens will have the chance to engage this content with each other and their leaders. If all you are able to ‘accomplish’ is a check-in with them on Sunday afternoons, consider it a win! If you are able to sit down and go through the materials together, then you deserve an award and come teach us your ways :)
Start By Stopping
(If you aren’t in a place where you can do that, set a reminder to come back. But please don’t try to cram this in while getting kids ready for school, or replying to emails, or watching Netflix)Don’t talk, don’t move, don’t do anything except breathe. Look around, listen, smell… and be still until it’s uncomfortable. Say a prayer- no agenda, just whatever you want to say directed toward God. If praying isn’t something you do often- give it a shot. Just talk/think/share. In fact, we encourage you to pray aloud! It might feel odd at first, but again, there’s no pressure to do it “correctly.” Just fill God in on your heart & enjoy the quiet.
“Faithfulness means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”
–Philip Yancey
Grab your Neuma Journal and spend a few moments writing your thoughts to the following prompts:
Is there a difference between faith and faithfulness? If so, what is the difference?
Read Philip Yancey’s quote… how does it make you feel? Does it make sense? Is it helpful?
Can you think of any times in your life where Yancey’s thought was true? Where you are able to look back and make sense of a situation where faithfulness felt difficult at the time but ultimately proved to be fruitful?
WATCH:
Spend a few minutes with this epic scene from Lord of the Rings: Two Towers. Maybe even watch it twice to make sure you catch every word of Sam’s speech.
Grab your Neuma Journal and spend some time with the following prompts in response to the movie clip:
How does this scene help you define the term “faithfulness?”
Make a quick list of the things in your life that you believe are ‘worth fighting for.’
Suzie Smith
Storytelling
I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the weekly Neuma Project readings. They have brought greater depth and intention to my devotionals and scripture study.
The fruit of the spirit is the outcome and expression of a relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. These qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are more than actions / things that we can do. They are ways of being.
Only God can see the end from the beginning. Only God can orchestrate events in our lives that place us in the perfect place at the perfect time, to learn the perfect lessons we are meant to learn. Time and again, I have been provided lessons in patience, forbearance, and trust – to trust God’s will and wait for His timing.
After a series of difficult life-impacting challenges over several years’ time, I stopped asking why and instead began asking what. “What would you have me do now, Lord? What would you have me learn from this experience?” Through this change in mindset, I was strengthened in countless ways. … those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.... (Isaiah 40:31)
During one particularly difficult year, I started keeping a gratitude journal. Each day, I would ask myself, what am I grateful for today? Or, How I have seen God’s hand reaching out to bless me or my family?
Not long after I began this practice, one of my dear sons began a long struggle with mental illness and substance abuse. Those were some of the most heart-rending years in my family’s life. When a child you love with your whole heart pushes everyone away and refuses all help, it forces you to rely on God more fully than ever.
One day in a counseling session, after lamenting the way my son was sabotaging his life and alienating his family, the counselor advised me to “let go and let God.” I told her that I didn’t know how to do that. She encouraged me to pray about it.
That night, instead of praying to the Lord for understanding on how to “let go,” I started to pray, “help me to take care of…” and immediately I felt the words, “No. He is mine. These experiences are teaching him. I am watching over him. You are only to love and encourage him. You are not to take care of him any longer.” And then I felt the
tremendous burden I had been carrying lift from my shoulders. I wept and wept, but felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit and finally understood what it means to Give it to God. I also felt that peace spoken of by Paul in Philppians 4:7 – that peace that transcends all understanding. There was no human reasoning that could explain it. But nevertheless, I was filled with peace.
I thanked God for the peaceful assurance that my son’s poor choices were not my burden to carry. This came through scriptures, music, and the support of caring friends. God was by my side through it all, teaching me about forgiveness, about letting go, and learning to trust that ultimately He is in charge. I felt peace knowing that I could lay my burden at God’s feet, that I did not have to be anxious about anything, but in every situation [I could] present my requests to God with prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).
Thankfully, my son was eventually able to turn his life around. He is currently in his last year at WSU, majoring in Electrical Engineering. Happily, he is free from addiction and is leading a healthy life. I thank God for His infinite wisdom, His everlasting love, and for sending his inexplicable peace during challenging times.
RESPONDING TO SCRIPTURE
Settle in and get quiet. Take a few deep breaths. Ask the Spirit to illuminate the scriptures for you.
After you’ve slowed yourself down with silence and breath, read scriptures below.
(If you’d like to use your own Bible please do! If you’d like an online version from the NRSV you can find one HERE)
Then slowly work through the prompts below.
Use your Neuma Journal to write down what comes to your heart and mind.
Galatians 6:1-10 (The Message)
1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
7-8 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
9-10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
What does it mean to share the burdens of those who have been oppressed? Have you ever experienced this in your own life? Where
Think of a few areas in your life where you have faithfully planted seeds “in response to God.” Are you able to see what Paul calls “real life” growing out of those faithful seeds? How so?
Have you ever got “fatigued doing good?” What encourages you to not grow weary in the Christian life even when you feel like giving up?
Neuma Kids
Consider all the ways that a dog shows faithfulness to its owner.
Dogs have been named man’s best friend for a reason. That reason is the character quality of faithfulness. Dogs are incredibly loyal to their masters.
If you have a dog, talk to your children about ways you can tell that your dog is faithful. Points to discuss include the dog waiting for you to come home, watching for your arrival, following you around the house or yard and staying close to you while you work or play, and choosing to come and be petted by its master rather than a stranger.
If you do not have a dog, take time to visit someone who has a dog and ask the owner how their dog exhibits the character trait of faithfulness. Or simply think about what you know of dogs.
Questions for discussion
If you were a dog, what kind would you like to be?
How can we tell that a dog is faithful?
How can we be faithful
to God?
to friends?
to commitments and responsibilities (at school, at home, etc.)?
to doing the right thing?
to what we believe?
What are some ways we know God is faithful and we can be trusted?
PRACTICE: FAITHFULNESS
Each month during The Neuma Project you will be invited to try an experiment. Some of the experiments will be really simple, while others will stretch you out of your comfort zone. Just like an experiment at school, we want you to try them all. There’s no judgment if it doesn’t work, and since we’re all learning together, no one is an expert!
Howard Thurman
“The Work of Christmas,” was composed by Howard Thurman (to learn more about him click on the photo), an African-American theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. We have included a link the choral version in the songs for reflection portion of the materials. Thurman valued contemplative internal work and active social justice work. For him, both are deeply connected to Jesus and also integral to being a Christian. Contemplative practice helps us listen Jesus’ voice, and sustains us in the work Jesus calls us to for the sake of the oppressed.
Following Thurman’s lead, spend time reading and/or listening to “The Work of Christmas” in a contemplative sense, spending time in the presence of God listening for the God’s voice. Then, reflect/discern how God might be calling you into action based on what you sensed from the Spirit. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Write about both (contemplative listening and active engagement) in your Neuma journal.
“The Work Of Christmas”
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
PRACTICING FAITHFULNESS
This will be pretty simple this month - at least in practice!
IF you participated in a prior lesson’s practice of love, service, or patience toward a neighbor you’re invited to follow up with them. To show them your care for them wasn’t a one-time-only event but an act of faithfulness born of the Spirit. You can choose how you follow up with them (shovel their sidewalk, invite them over for a meal, bake them a treat, help them carry their groceries from their car, the possibilities are endless!
If you have NOT participated in a prior lesson’s practice of love, service, or patience toward a neighbor - get to it! You can either go back and look at prior lesson’s invitations to love and serve a neighbor or you can ask the Spirit to give you an idea or prompt. However, no more ignoring our call to faithfulness by knowing (and loving) our neighborhoods.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
Make sure everyone has a chance to share their name and what was the oddest moment from your 2024 holiday season?
What is your ideal January weather? (no, you cannot say sunny at 80*! That is June weather)
One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we’ve heard so far re: the Neuma Project is that it has caused folks to re-think how they see each of the Fruits of the Spirit. Do you have any new insights or wonderings into gentleness or faithfulness is an outpouring of the Spirit’s work in us?
Can you think of anyone in your life who has exhibited Spirit-led faithfulness to you personally? If so, share a bit about their role in your life.
What’s next for your Neuma Group? Let the holidays happen and get back together next Gathering Sunday (February 9 - Super Bowl Sunday)? Meet up for coffee before worship sometime? Host a Super Bowl party together with other non-FPC neighbors invited?
Songs for Reflection
Please use these songs to supplement your time this week. Listen as you pray or as you drive to work. Listen as you respond to the reflection prompts or as you do homework. Listen as you get ready for bed at night or don’t listen at all!