Tag: bible

Devotions, Women's Devotionals

🌿 Women’s Devotional — Day 98

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Me to Love Like Christ”

📖 “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
 —Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

Loving like Christ is not something you can sustain on your own strength. You can try to be patient. You can try to be gracious. You can try to forgive. But eventually, human love runs out. That is why God pours His love into your heart through the Holy Spirit. Christlike love is not rooted in emotion—it is rooted in truth. It is not driven by comfort—it is guided by obedience. It is not fragile—it is anchored in God’s character.

The Holy Spirit teaches you to love like Christ by reminding you of how deeply you are loved by God, helping you forgive without minimizing truth, softening your heart without removing discernment, strengthening you to love when it costs you something, helping you respond with grace instead of resentment, guarding your heart while keeping it tender, teaching you to love without enabling sin, and forming compassion that reflects Christ, not people-pleasing.

Jesus loved perfectly—not because love was easy, but because His love flowed from the Father.

Sometimes Christlike love looks gentle. Sometimes it looks firm. Sometimes it looks like patience. Sometimes it looks like boundaries. Sometimes it looks like forgiveness. Sometimes it looks like walking away without bitterness.

The Holy Spirit teaches you what love looks like in each situation.

You are not called to love out of emptiness. You are called to love from a heart filled by God. And as the Holy Spirit pours God’s love into you, your love becomes steady, discerning, and strong—a reflection of Christ Himself.

Reflect:

  • Where does loving others feel most difficult right now?
  • How is the Holy Spirit inviting you to love with both truth and grace in this season?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach me to love like Christ. Fill my heart with God’s love so that I may love others from truth, not exhaustion. Help me forgive without compromising righteousness, care without losing discernment, and love in ways that honor You. Let my love reflect Jesus in every situation.
Amen.

Children's Devotionals, Devotions

🧒 Children’s Devotional — Day 98

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Helps Me Love Others”

📖 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
 —John 13:35 (NKJV)

Loving others is not always easy. Sometimes people are kind. Sometimes people are not. Sometimes friends hurt your feelings. Sometimes family members make mistakes. But Jesus asks His followers to love—even when it’s hard. That’s why God gives you the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helps you love others by reminding you how much God loves you, helping you forgive instead of staying mad, teaching you to be gentle and patient, helping you care about how others feel, giving you kind words to say, and helping you love like Jesus loves.

Loving others doesn’t mean letting people hurt you. It means choosing kindness, forgiveness, and goodness in your heart. Every time you choose love, the Holy Spirit is helping you grow more like Jesus.

Talk About It:

  • Who is someone you can show love to today?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help you love someone when it feels hard?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, help me love others. Help me forgive, be kind, and care like Jesus does. Thank You for loving me and helping me share that love with others.
Amen.

Devotions, Family Devotionals

🏡 Family Devotional — Day 97

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Our Family Self-Control”

📖 “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
 —Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV)

Self-control is one of the most important qualities for a healthy family.

Homes are places where emotions are expressed freely—joy, frustration, disappointment, excitement, and stress. That makes self-control especially important in how family members speak, respond, and treat one another.

The Holy Spirit helps families learn self-control together. He helps your family pause before reacting, speak calmly instead of harshly, listen instead of interrupting, control anger instead of letting it control you, choose patience when emotions rise, respond with wisdom rather than impulse, create peace instead of tension, and restore relationships quickly when mistakes are made.

Self-control in a family does not mean hiding emotions. It means allowing the Holy Spirit to guide how emotions are expressed. When family members learn to rule their spirits,homes become places of safety instead of stress,communication becomes healthier,and relationships grow stronger.

The Holy Spirit patiently trains your family—teaching each person to respond with love, wisdom, and restraint.

Talk About It Together:

  • When does our family struggle most with self-control?
  • How can we help each other pause before reacting?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach our family self-control. Help us slow down, listen, and respond with wisdom and love. When emotions rise, guide our hearts. Let our home reflect peace, patience, and self-control through You.
Amen.

Devotions, Teen Devotions

👧👦 Teen Devotional — Day 97

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Me Self-Control”

📖 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
 —2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

Self-control is not about suppressing emotions. It’s about surrendering them. Strong emotions are not a sin—but letting them rule your decisions can be. Anger can flare quickly. Fear can cloud judgment. Desire can override wisdom. Pressure can push you to react instead of think. This is where the Holy Spirit works.

Self-control is not something you produce by willpower alone. It is a fruit the Spirit grows as you yield to Him. The Holy Spirit helps you practice self-control by slowing your reactions when emotions surge, helping you pause before speaking or acting, giving clarity when your thoughts feel chaotic, strengthening you to resist temptation, helping you say no when sin looks appealing, restoring calm when anxiety rises, aligning your choices with truth instead of impulse, and teaching you to respond with wisdom rather than regret.

Self-control is not weakness, it is strength under direction. Jesus demonstrated perfect self-control—not because He lacked emotion, but because He was fully submitted to the Father. As the Holy Spirit forms self-control in you, you begin to act intentionally rather than impulsively, wisely rather than emotionally, and faithfully rather than reactively. You will still feel deeply. But you will no longer be ruled by those feelings. And over time, self-control becomes freedom—freedom to choose what honors God and leads to life.

Talk About It:

  • In what situations do emotions most easily take over your actions?
  • How can you invite the Holy Spirit to help you pause and choose wisely in those moments?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach me self-control. Help me pause before reacting, think clearly when emotions are strong, and choose what honors God. Give me a sound mind, a steady heart, and strength to walk in wisdom each day.
Amen.

Children's Devotionals, Devotions

🧒 Children’s Devotional — Day 97

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Helps Me Have Self-Control”

📖 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
 —2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

Sometimes your feelings feel really big. You might feel angry. You might feel excited. You might want to say something right away. You might want to do something without thinking.That’s when the Holy Spirit helps you have self-control. Self-control means stopping to think before you act.  It means choosing what is right, even when feelings are strong.

The Holy Spirit helps you pause before speaking, calm down when emotions are big, choose gentle words, obey even when it’s hard, stop yourself from doing something wrong, and make wise choices.

Self-control doesn’t mean pretending feelings don’t exist. It means letting the Holy Spirit help you choose how to respond. Every time you stop, pray, and choose what is right, the Holy Spirit is helping you grow more like Jesus.

Talk About It:

  • What feeling is hardest for you to control?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help you pause before reacting?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, help me have self-control. Help me stop and think, choose what is right, and respond with love. Thank You for helping me every day.
Amen.

Devotions, Women's Devotionals

🌿 Women’s Devotional — Day 97

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Forms Godly Self-Control in Me”

📖 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”
 —Titus 2:11–12 (NKJV)

Self-control is often misunderstood as emotional restraint alone. But biblical self-control reaches deeper—it governs desires, words, reactions, thoughts, and choices. As a woman, you may carry intense emotions, heavy responsibilities, and unseen pressures. Stress, exhaustion, disappointment, or fear can easily push you toward reaction rather than reflection. This is where the Holy Spirit works with gentleness and power.

Self-control is not something you force. It is something the Spirit forms as you yield. The Holy Spirit grows self-control in you by steadying your spirit when emotions rise, teaching you to pause instead of react, helping you submit desires to truth, strengthening restraint when temptation whispers, calming anxiety so wisdom can surface, guarding your tongue when silence is wiser, aligning your actions with God’s character, and producing discipline without harshness.

Self-control is not suppression. It is submission—to God’s will, God’s Word, and God’s timing. 

Jesus lived with perfect self-control—not because He felt nothing, but because He entrusted everything to the Father.

When the Holy Spirit forms self-control in you, your responses become intentional, your decisions become anchored, and your peace becomes less fragile.

Self-control creates space for wisdom. It protects relationships. It strengthens integrity. It frees you from regret. And it grows quietly, faithfully, as you walk with God.

Reflect:

  • Where do emotions most often challenge your self-control?
  • How is the Holy Spirit inviting you to pause and surrender rather than react?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, form godly self-control in me. When emotions rise, steady my heart. When temptation calls, strengthen my resolve. Help me pause, pray, and choose what honors God.
Teach me to live soberly, righteously, and faithfully in this season.
Amen.

Devotions, Family Devotionals

🏡 Family Devotional — Day 96

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Our Family Patience”

📖 “Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit.”
 —Ecclesiastes 7:8b (NKJV)

Patience is tested most often at home. Busy schedules. Different personalities. Delays. Misunderstandings. Unmet expectations. These moments can either create frustration—or growth.

The Holy Spirit helps families learn patience together. He helps your family slow down instead of rushing, respond calmly instead of reacting emotionally, wait without complaining, show grace when mistakes are made, endure challenges together, trust God’s timing as a family, practice understanding instead of impatience, and choose peace over pressure.

Patience in a family does not mean ignoring problems. It means handling them with wisdom, love, and self-control.

As your family learns to wait on God together, you grow stronger, more united, and more grounded in faith. The Holy Spirit patiently shapes your home— teaching each person to reflect Christ more clearly.

Talk About It Together:

  • When does our family struggle most with patience?
  • How can we practice patience together this week?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach our family patience. Help us slow down, listen, and respond with love instead of frustration. Give us grace for one another and help us trust God’s timing together.
Amen.

Devotions, Teen Devotions

👧👦 Teen Devotional — Day 96

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Me Patience”

📖 “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
 —James 1:4 (NKJV)

Patience is one of the hardest fruits of the Spirit to grow. 

You live in a world that wants answers now, results now, relief now. Waiting feels uncomfortable. Delays feel frustrating. Unanswered prayers can feel discouraging. But patience is not wasted time—it is shaping time.

The Holy Spirit teaches you patience by changing how you wait. He helps you remain steady when things don’t move quickly, trust God’s timing instead of forcing outcomes, resist frustration when progress feels slow, endure trials without losing hope, grow perseverance when life feels repetitive, respond with faith instead of anger, wait without bitterness, and trust that God is working even when you can’t see it.

Patience does not mean passivity. It means choosing faith while you wait.

Often, God is doing more in you than around you during seasons of waiting. He is strengthening your character. Deepening your trust. Teaching dependence. Refining motives. Preparing you for what comes next.

The Holy Spirit reminds you that God’s delays are not God’s denials. His timing is purposeful. His work is complete. And His plans are good.

As patience grows, so does maturity. And over time, you will see that waiting was not empty—it was formative.

Talk About It:

  • What are you waiting on God for right now?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help you wait with trust instead of frustration?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach me patience. Help me trust God’s timing when waiting feels hard and progress feels slow. Strengthen my faith, guard my attitude, and help me grow through every season of waiting.
Amen.

Children's Devotionals, Devotions

🧒 Children’s Devotional — Day 96

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Helps Me Be Patient”

📖 “The fruit of the Spirit is… patience.”
 —Galatians 5:22a (NKJV)

Waiting can be hard. Waiting your turn. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for something you really want. Waiting when you feel upset or frustrated.But God knows waiting is hard—that’s why He gives you the Holy Spirit to help you be patient.

The Holy Spirit helps you stay calm when things take time, wait without complaining, be gentle when you feel frustrated, trust that God’s timing is good, remember that God is in control, and choose kindness while you wait. 

Patience doesn’t mean nothing is happening. It means God is working—even when you can’t see it yet. Every time you wait patiently,the Holy Spirit is helping your heart grow stronger and more like Jesus.

Talk About It:

  • What is something you have to wait for right now?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help you be patient today?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, help me be patient. Help me wait without getting upset and trust that God knows what is best. Thank You for helping me grow every day.
Amen.

Devotions, Women's Devotionals

🌿 Women’s Devotional — Day 96

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Grows Patience in Me”

📖 “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”
 —Romans 8:25 (NKJV)

Patience is often learned in places you would never choose. In waiting rooms. In unanswered prayers. In long seasons without clarity. In relationships that stretch you. In circumstances that do not change as quickly as you hoped.

Patience is not passive resignation. It is an active trust. And it is not produced by willpower—it is produced by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit grows patience in you by steadying your heart when anxiety wants control,teaching you to wait without resentment,reminding you that God’s timing is intentional,guarding your spirit from bitterness, strengthening you to endure without losing hope, helping you trust God’s heart when you cannot see His hand, refining your character through perseverance, and forming quiet confidence instead of restless striving,

Waiting often reveals what you are tempted to rush, fix, or force. But the Spirit invites you to rest instead. God is never late. He is never careless.  He is never absent in the waiting. Sometimes He is preparing circumstances. Sometimes He is preparing others.  Often, He is preparing you.

Patience grows as you surrender control and trust God’s wisdom more than your timeline. And as the Holy Spirit works, waiting becomes less about frustration and more about faith.

Reflect:

  • Where are you struggling most with waiting right now?
  • What might the Holy Spirit be shaping in you during this season?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, grow patience in my heart. When waiting feels heavy, give me endurance. When answers feel delayed, strengthen my trust. Help me rest in God’s timing and walk forward with perseverance and hope.
Amen.