Bragging Rights Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Bragging Rights ----------------------- Date: 07/02/1999 Keywords: "boasting" "delight" "justice" "kindness" "riches" "righteousness" "strength" "wisdom" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. eXXit advertises itself as a Web site designed to help you "stand strong in the face of sexual temptation." In Galatians 5:22-23, the apostle Paul lists nine "fruit of the Spirit," fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in the life of the believer. Each of these fruits — if produced — will greatly aid a believer who seeks to "stand strong." At eXXit, we believe that: The fruit of the Spirit is produced in the life of a healthy Christian, just as apples appear on a healthy apple tree. If there is any love or joy or peace in a Christian, it is ultimately the work of God. Christians can cooperate with the Spirit's desire to produce His fruit in their lives by yieldedness, faith, obedience and involvement in ministry. We hope you enjoy and benefit from these meditations on Galatians 5! Send us any feedback. We'd love to know what you think. Passage: Jeremiah 9:23-24* 23. This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24. but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. Questions 1. Is boasting a problem for you?   2. According to verse 24 above, what does the Lord consider a virtue in men?   3. Can kindness be displayed without relationships?   Practical help Pride or "boasting" is a major obstacle to the Fruit of the Spirit. If we're so caught up in ourselves that we lose sight of our need for relationship with God, then he will find other conduits to accomplish his work. We lose our connection to the living waters that produce fruit. We can turn even our struggles against sin into a kind of bragging ground: "I had a real victory in that area today!" Never forget where the source of victory is. If we are to understand kindness, we need an understanding and knowledge of God. We need to have a relationship with him so that we can experience his kindness toward us. Then, to reflect that in our own lives, we need to have relationships with others in which we can practice kindness. We cannot be kind in a vacuum — seek out friends, family, and others and be kind to them. The Lord says he delights in kindness, justice and righteousness. Not just that he thinks they're good things, but he's truly ecstatic in these virtues. Ecstasy is a good thing when rightly directed, as a response to good things, things of God. Men fail when they get so wound up in enjoying strong feelings that they forget the good thing that evoked the feeling. Pornography seeks to short-circuit the relationship, the good thing, to get right to the feeling, the response. Notice that God doesn't delight in delight, He delights in his nature and his relationship with man. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1999 by eXXit * Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.