Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Romans 2:4
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
When I was 9 years old, I had an elementary school teacher called Mrs. McGregor. She was a good teacher. She ran a tight ship and kept us all in line. I remember her pointing to a number chart on her wall and having us run through various number sequences, again and again, which formed the foundation of our times tables in later years. I remember on one occasion being asked to come to her desk. She presented one of my books to me and told me, rather bluntly, I thought, that my handwriting needed improvement. “But Mrs. McGregor…” I protested, “…it’s my pencil.” To which she responded, “Andrew, bad workmen blame their tools.” It was a stinging retort which has stayed with me all these years. She was absolutely right, and I knew it, even though it would have been easier to ignore it.
In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul says to Timothy, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Sometimes the truth hurts. An uncomfortable truth is something that we might try to avoid. We may surround ourselves with people who also have an aversion to that uncomfortable truth and instead tell us what we want to hear. Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern for declaring that Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonians. That is exactly what happened, but the military and political officials at the time didn’t want to hear it, so they accused him of treason and had King Zedekiah have him thrown into the cistern of the court guardhouse, rather than listen to his counsel.
In his book Leadership is an Art, Max De Pree states, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” The reality may be good, it may be bad, or it may be ugly, but to state the truth of it is essential if you are going to do anything about it. In this sense, to speak the truth about ‘what is’, is a kindness, even if it is a convicting kindness. It was kind of my teacher to tell me plainly that my handwriting was poor and needed improving, because unless I accepted that reality, it didn’t matter how much I sharpened my pencil; it was never going to improve, because I was the one controlling the pencil.
In the same way, through the pages of scripture, God presents to us what is right, and true, and good. Ultimately, Jesus incarnated and personified that goodness. He said things that many people identified with, but there were also things that many people would not listen to and turned away from following him. His words to us are for our good. As he said, his is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Fullness of life and eternal life are only found in him. As we read his words and seek to follow his ways, his light shines on and in our darkness, and illuminates it. This can be difficult to bear, but he does it for our good, intending that his forbearance and grace will lead us to repentance; a change of heart and a desire to do his will, which is ultimately for our good. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
For Reflection
- Are there any areas in your life where you know God’s wisdom and guidance, but are finding excuses to go in another direction?
- What would it look like to take a step toward God’s will for your life today?
Prayer
Good and gracious God, we thank you for your life-giving word. Help us to be diligent students of your word, that we may gain wisdom for the gift of life that you have given. We confess that we do not always live according to your word, due to negligence, weakness, and our own deliberate fault. Forgive us, pardon and deliver us, confirm and strengthen us in your goodness, and may our hearts be increasingly receptive to your Holy Spirit’s promptings that we may walk in your truth, to the glory of your name. Amen.
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Devotionals