I got a question for you, "Who let you out of the house looking like that?"

Oh, yeah. I'm sure you've seen somebody walk by, and you think, who let them out the house looking like that? Where are their friends? Who told them to wear that?

I've been there before with my wife. I walk in the house, and she’ll be like, what are you wearing!? We've all been there. Maybe it’s just too tight; maybe you’ve grown that 14 or 15 extra, and you’re starting to expand your territory. It’s all good; we’ve all experienced it.

The most important thing is though, are you growing spiritually? I know it seems more difficult to grow spiritually, but it's not.

We can identify if you're growing by a couple of things.

Galatians 5:22 lets you know whether you have fruit in your life or not. Basically, we can see the fruit, and that's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. That's how you know you go to the next level - when you see these things act out in your life.

When you want to pop off of to somebody, but you decide to have some self-control and say, no, I'm going chill.

Fruit of the Spirit is essential to growth.

Now, you may be asking, how do I actually grow so I can see this fruit? Well, you got to have a seed to get some fruit. This is what you want to do, three simple things.

#1 BE QUIET

That's right, I said, be quiet. Okay, now, quiet time is essential. Spend a little time with Jesus reading your Bible and praying.

It's simple; you don't have to do very long. It's not about the quantity but the quality. It’s about removing distractions, getting quiet, and reading your Bible. Maybe it's a proverb a day and praying. Just taking time to talk to God like I’m talking to you.

#2 BE OBEDIENT

Be obedient to whatever God told you to do last. Whatever the thing that you don't want to do but God told you to do it. Maybe you’ve been trying to avoid it and wait for God to speak again. Maybe it looks like adding something to your life or maybe subtracting something or someone from your life. But, do that thing that God has asked of you.

#3 BE GENEROUS

Generosity opens things in your life that nothing else can. It’s sowing a seed that will produce fruit. It produces a harvest. So, if you don’t plant any seeds, then you will not get a harvest. Being generous is one of the best things you can do because it mirrors the generosity of our God.

So be quiet, be obedient, be generous and watch the fruit in your life grow.

by Neal Hopson (Neallytime)