Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. I want to thank all of you for joining us this week. Over the next two episodes, Jeremy and I are going to take a look back on 2024 and talk about a few of the episodes that really stood out to us over the course of our time together last year. And so this week, we're going to start with just the first half.

Of 2024. And we're going to pull out a couple of those episodes, uh, that really stuck with us. And so with that, let's get to it. 

Well, John, as you made mention, uh, here in the next couple of weeks, we're going to look back on 2024. And, uh, if my math is correct, 48 episodes that we recorded, uh, last week on a whole host of topics. And I think what's interesting is in a lot of ways, even though we talked about 48 kind of different topics, they really all centered in really two different categories.

And that's kind of, you know, being conscious about growing in our relationship, getting closer to God, and then growing in our relationship and getting closer to one another. And, um You and I  led those conversations most of the time. We had a few guests even along the way, but there were several things that kind of stood out.

We're going to talk about several of those things kind of in the first half of the year, uh, in this episode, and then next week we'll talk about the second half of the year. And so, you know, one of the things that kind of stood out to me in kind of looking at the list is we really hit several, you know, kind of Virtue, attitude, kind of, you know, thought processes, and in a lot of ways those really, uh, stood out to me.

You know, you have a passage like Galatians chapter 5, when you talk about, certainly the works of the flesh, but the fruit of the spirit. And in the fruit of the spirit, you know, we have, you know, a whole host of different, and we hit, Several of those. And, you know, just for instance, I kind of circled several things that stood out, but we talked about growing in love, joy, gentleness, generosity, patience, self control, and really what stood out to me in those conversations is how easily application can flow off of that.

That when you really start to think about what the Bible says about, Those things, and God's, you know, his thoughts on those kinds of things, a lot of times, pretty simple application can flow, you know, out of that, and that was really, really helpful for me, certainly when we had those, those conversations.

Yeah, I think one of the most, uh, meaningful learnings for me when, Studying through the fruit of the spirit specifically, and somebody pointed this out to me years and years and years ago at this point, is that the fruit of the spirit isn't a list of characteristics that qualify us to have a relationship with God.

The fruit of the spirit is a list of characteristics that we embody because we have a relationship with God. And so when I think about growing. In these areas, it points me to the importance of growing in my relationship with God. And so you're right. If I want to grow in peace, or if I want to grow in kindness, or if I want to grow in self control or any of those fruits of the spirit, if I want to grow in those areas, The way I do that is by strengthening my relationship with God and growing in the depth of that relationship, the intimacy of that relationship, and all of these other things are going to grow as a result of that.

And so you're, you're right. As you know, you look through this list and you see all of these times we spent talking about each of these individual characteristics. And those are all so important because they should embody us. They should embody who we are. If we are growing in our relationship with God, if we're giving serious attention to nurturing that relationship, continuing to grow closer to Him over the course of our life, we will see continued growth in each of these areas.

Yeah, and I think, you know, uh, The power behind a lot of that is certainly when you spend time to think about it. And, you know, we're here at the beginning of a year. And so it's always easy to look backwards and then, you know, certainly look forwards, you know, even, but, you know, if we're honest with ourself and you pick up a list like Galatians chapter five, you know, versus 22 and 23, there's always room there.

There there's always, no matter where you are, no matter who you are. No matter where you are in your walk, uh, with Christ, and no matter what spot you're in, there's always room if you're honest with yourself. And so, whenever we took the time, a few minutes, you know, on some random Monday at the beginning of the year, you know, to talk about love, or to talk about self control, or to talk about gentleness, you can come away with a conversation, or with the, you know, from a study like that, and realize there's always room.

Right? There's always room in my life for more love. There's always room in my life for more kindness. There's always room in my life for more self control. And so if you're humble and you're honest, there's always room. And so then in those conversations that leads to thoughts and meditation on those subjects, to me, in a lot of ways, it's the power of the, of the scripture.

And you know, if a passage that I've read however many times, but 10 minute conversation about it. And. Instantly, you're like, there's room there for me. I think you hit on what is really an important part of this entire year. When you think about everything that we've talked about, all of it pointing towards growth in certain areas, in order for us to recognize a need for that, we have to be humble about the fact that there is room for growth in these areas.

And as a Christian, we should all, uh, have that humility that seeks to grow and recognizes that there is room, as you said, for growth in these areas. And I think a list like what we see with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter five, um, Transcribed Gives us a chance to really just take a step back and think, wow, uh, I have room to grow in all of these areas because I have room for my relationship with God to continue to grow deeper.

And if we ever get to the point where we look at that list and we think, nah, I got that covered. I mean, I've checked the box. I'm good. That should immediately be a red flag for us because it highlights not just pride, but it highlights, uh, stagnation in our relationship with God, and we can never be satisfied with that.

We need to constantly be desiring for growth in all of these areas. Yeah, there's a question about that, you know, I will add on, you know, one other thing that kind of stood out, you know, to me at the first half of the year, I don't want to spend a lot of time on it, and then I'll kind of tell you why. as well.

But we spent a lot of time talking about kind of daily habit things, study, prayer, uh, multiple, you know, multiple different times. And that always sticks out to me as things that are pretty important. I don't want to spend a lot of time, you know, talk about it here, kind of a preview for, you know, some things that we've got coming up in the future.

We'll talk more about it. you know, in a couple of weeks, but we're going to spend some significant time in those areas, you know, here relatively soon. But what about for you here in the first half of the year, maybe something that kind of stood out. One that I had highlighted was growing in our appreciation for the Old Testament.

That was one, just as I looked at the list, really stood out to me. And maybe that's because. I've been studying through different parts of the Old Testament. It seems like a lot recently in some of the Bible classes that I've been teaching. But just in general, I feel like our appreciation of the Old Testament should grow deeper and deeper the older we get.

And the more we come to understand really what it represents.  Because God gave us the Old Testament in a lot of ways to introduce himself to mankind and give, gave us through it the opportunity to learn about him, about what it means to have a relationship with him, what it means to sin, what it means to be led by him.

What it means to be delivered by him and trust in him, all of these principles that as Christians we live by today really have their roots in some of the teaching that's found in the Old Testament as God, largely in narrative form, allows us to learn about his characteristics. And so as I've gotten older and just become a better Bible student, the Old Testament has really become more and more important to me.

And I want that appreciation to continue to grow. And so the time we spent talking about that really just stood out to me because it's something that I want to make sure that I dedicate myself to as I move forward, is just continuing to appreciate the Old Testament for what it is and why God left it for us and the value that it should hold for me today as a New Testament Christian.

Yeah, I know we talked about it, you know, during that episode, but, you know, you think about, I mean, this, you know, we, we, I carried this episode back in March of, of 2024, and this past trimester, you know, here at, at Trader's Point, so the very end of the year, I was teaching an adult Bible class of the Gospel of Mark.

At the same time, I was working on material for another Bible class that I would be teaching in 2025 that kind of looked at Jesus's life chronologically. And so, you know, I was studying for Mark, And at the same time, I was kind of big picturing Jesus, you know, all at the same time. And, and you start to really, when you dig into the life of Jesus, no matter what gospel it is, and no matter what place, you really see the importance of the Old Testament plays in the story that's told, even by all faiths. 

And I know we made mention of that, you know, during that episode, but, you know, not just, you know, gaining an appreciation of the Old Testament grows your appreciation of God, certainly of who he is, but it also grows your appreciation of Christ and what he ended up doing for us. Yeah, you see all of the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, the foreshadowing in different characters throughout the Old Testament times.

Yeah. It all points to God's magnificent plan that he had from the beginning and understanding better the Old Testament and the role of the prophets and the role of the kings and all of the Israelite people and everything that they went through. When you understand all of that in the context of God's plan, then you get to the pages of the New Testament and Jesus comes onto the  scene as a fulfillment.

of those prophecies and Jesus routinely looks back to the Old Testament and uses it as an illustration for the principles that he is teaching today and it really is, uh, just, it brings the two testaments together when we sit back and we see it as God's plan for mankind. And the Old Testament holds a very important piece to understanding Christ and his message He brought to the world.

And so I think continuing to, to grow in our understanding of that. And you know, we're all drawn to different parts of the Bible for different reasons, but making sure that we give diligence to time and re and study and reading in the Old Testament is important. And continuing to grow in that appreciation is something that's gonna bring value to all of our lives.

Yeah. Well, listen, we, we certainly don't have time to dive into all 23 episodes in the first, you know, half of, of. What happened in 2024, but these were a couple of things that kind of stood out for us. And we certainly appreciate everybody for listening, you know, here. And, you know, if you've, if you missed, uh, any of the episodes before, all of them are still there.

Maybe you can go back and, and, you know, cherry pick, you know, some of the ones we've even talked about, you know, here in this episode, but I look forward to, uh, what we have in store coming up next week. We'll talk a little bit more along these same lines, cover kind of the second half of the, uh, of the year.

And I'm looking forward to that conversation then. 

Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening and rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus as widely and effectively as possible.

Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk to you again next week.