Planted to Flourish and Grow 4

 ¹⁴They shall still bear fruit in old age;

     They shall be fresh and flourishing,
  ¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
 He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

The character trait of a Christian (believer and follower of Jesus Christ) is of our love and worship of God and our love for our neighbors as we love ourselves. In order for us to arrive at demonstrating this character trait, God allows circumstances that remove thinking and behavior that are contrary to what the Bible says is the way we should view and relate to Him: as the Only God there is, and turns us away from this way of thinking and behavior that has sunk us deeper into sin. Through the reading of the word in communion with Him, He leads us to repentance and the renewing of our minds (Jeremiah 23:29 AMP), as well as from following after idols (other so called gods) we might have learned to worship through our cultures, and while we, in our hunger for power, position, achievement, wealth, knowledge, or acclamation, turned to and followed after in ways contrary to the will of God.

Jeremiah 9:23-25 says:

^23” This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
    or the powerful boast in their power,
    or the rich boast in their riches.
²⁴ But those who wish to boast
    should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
    who demonstrates unfailing love
    and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

²⁵ “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit”— NLT

To be circumcised in spirit means to get rid of the desires of our flesh that keep us in sin so we can obey what the Word of God says. This is a lifetime undertaking that takes us to different levels of wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the ways of God and of His Kingdom as a person goes to school first at the elementary level, the junior level, high school level, college, etc. Other parts of this circumcision involve the way we relate and treat other people, (do we love, respect, and honor our parents, siblings, children, neighbors, bosses, etc., or do we oppress them with our words and behavior).

There is also spiritual circumcision of the way we handle our finances and resources God makes available for us to steward, (are they used to advance God’s Kingdom through tithes and offerings, to help the poor, and to be used according to His will or do we use them for our own selfish ambitions and for hoarding and keeping others from seeing God through what we can, but neglect to do). The way we handle our bodies is circumcised as well, so we can learn good habits that involve the food we eat (that should be nutritious to keep our bodies healthy and energized) and exercise, and sexual relations (that should only be done with our spouses) and other ways in which we may be treating our bodies such as with drugs and alcohol, or cutting oneself, etc. which are contrary to God’s word about loving ourselves.

The way we use our tongue also receives circumcision (how we speak about others—is it through gossip, slander, etc., or are we praying for them and asking how we can help when we see a brother or sister fall, or seem like is falling, but God is actually taking him or her through a season of purification and deeper foundation of righteousness and holiness that makes the process seem not very appealing to our eyes. In addition, we receive circumcision of how we see and speak about ourselves (is it through the eyes of inferiority and insecurity, or according to the way  His word says He sees us), and how we speak about our circumstances (do we use idle words that curse or the words of God that bless).

Furthermore, there is also the circumcision of pride so we can walk in humbleness that acknowledges God as the source of everything we need and could ever accomplish in our lives because pride causes a person to exalt himself or herself above God (Isaiah 14:12-17), and because we have seen that it is rooted in fear, it can lead us to follow the desires of our flesh and this can take us to evil behavior such as what is described in Galatians 5:19-21 which says, 

“¹⁹ The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins, sinful desires, wild living, ²⁰ worshiping false gods, witchcraft, hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching, ²¹ wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these. I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these things will have no place in the holy nation of God” NLV.

After we have accepted Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives, we enter into a preparation or washing from all these things that are in the way of demonstrating Christ in us to others through good fruit that will last to our old age in the form of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This is what helps us influence others so they too can learn to live life in abundance and remain in it. Then we will know we are living by the Spirit of God because we have put our faith in Christ Jesus and can eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God by this faith that expresses itself through love (of Him as our only God and the only source of everything we need, and of others as we love, respect, and honor them) Galatians 5:5-6. (Emphasis mine).  To Him alone be all the glory.