Tag: total-depravity

Devotions, Teen Devotions

👧👦 Teen Devotional — Day 98

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Me to Love Like Jesus”

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

Love is the most visible evidence of a life changed by Christ. Not the kind of love that depends on mood or convenience—but the kind that reflects Jesus. That kind of love does not come naturally.

It is easy to love people who treat you well. It is harder to love when you feel misunderstood, hurt, ignored, or wronged. It is even harder to love when loving costs you something. This is where the Holy Spirit works most clearly.

The Holy Spirit teaches you to love like Jesus by reminding you how deeply you have been loved and forgiven, helping you forgive instead of holding grudges, shaping compassion where bitterness wants to grow, guiding you to speak truth with gentleness, helping you love without compromising what is right, strengthening you to love even when it’s not returned, guarding your heart while teaching you to care, and directing love with wisdom, not naïveté.

Biblical love is not passive. It is intentional. It does not ignore sin, but it does not weaponize truth. It does not excuse harm, but it refuses hatred. It does not mean staying in unhealthy situations, but it does mean responding without resentment.

Jesus loved with both grace and truth. He did not love by pleasing people—He loved by reflecting the Father.

As the Holy Spirit forms Christlike love in you, your relationships begin to change. Your reactions soften. Your forgiveness deepens. Your patience grows. Your witness becomes clearer. 

Love is how the world recognizes Jesus in you. And the Holy Spirit is faithful to teach you how to live it out.

Talk About It:

  • In what situations do you find it hardest to love others right now?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help you love with both truth and grace?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach me to love like Jesus. Help me forgive when it’s hard, care when it costs me something, and love with wisdom, truth, and grace. Shape my heart so others can see Christ in me.
Amen.

Devotions, Family Devotionals

🏡 Family Devotional — Day 98

Rooted & Raised

“The Holy Spirit Teaches Our Family to Love Like Jesus”

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

Love is the foundation of a healthy home. Not perfect love—but Christlike love. Love that is patient. Love that forgives. Love that speaks truth gently. Love that chooses grace over resentment. This kind of love does not come naturally in a family, especially during stress, conflict, or exhaustion. That is why God gives families the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helps your family love like Jesus by  reminding each person how deeply they are loved by God, guiding forgiveness when hurt occurs, teaching kindness during disagreement, strengthening unity when emotions run high, helping parents lead with grace and truth, helping children learn love through example, guarding hearts while keeping them tender, and forming love that reflects Christ, not convenience.

Christlike love in a family does not ignore problems. It faces them with truth and grace.

When the Holy Spirit shapes love in your home, your family becomes a place of safety, growth, and testimony. Others will recognize Christ—not by perfection—but by love.

Talk About It Together:

  • How can our family show Christlike love to one another this week?
  • What does loving like Jesus look like during disagreements?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, teach our family to love like Jesus. Fill our home with grace, patience, and truth. Help us forgive quickly, speak gently, and reflect Christ in how we treat one another. Let our love point others to You.
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, 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.

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.