YOUTHFUL4GOD ISSUE NO 10| NOV 2020
CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE
Y 4 G KINDNESS: A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
CONTENTS
08-09: Fitness | Why you may not be losing weight
02: Contents & Contact Info 03: Editor's note 04-05: 1 Act of kindness
10-11: Reproductive health | Infertility
06-07: Kindness | A fruit of the spirit
12-13: Real Talk | We are scared of the Gospel/lifestyle 14: Faithful living | Killing them with kindness
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02
EDITOR'S NOTE
G4Y • 3 EGAP
The year is almost over with few weeks left until the end of 2020. Who would have thought of 2020 turning out this way? Masks and lockdowns! Most of us did not see this coming. All is not lost, during lockdown people got the time to recuperate and try new recipes. I got to spend time with my family and exercised(it didn't last). God has keep lockdown and lockdown, that’s importance and magazine is.
I am in tears for reviews(good or bad) that we always get regarding the magazine from our SAFE readers. It gives us hope and courage to continue writing and sharing with you what God has placed in our hearts and current affairs. I am grateful for the family (blood related and not) I have for always believing in me. Thank you to those that cover the magazine and its writers in prayer. We do not take this lightly. So in that note, reflect back on your Christian journey and see the goodness of God. This helps you to refuel on faith to keep pushing for coming months. Until next issue. I love and appreciate you but God love your more. Stay blessed.
the magazine during even now. During when I realized the on time our online
In this season of thanksgiving, I am grateful for the purpose God has given us of this publication. It is not easy but it’s fulfilling. I have wanted to quit so many times but could not give in to letting go. I am thankful that God guides me every single month as to what to do and how to do it especially when we encounter obstacles.
Malebogo Lepere
The word of God in Zachariah 7:9-10 (NKJV), says, “thus says the Lord of Hosts: execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother”. This clearly shows that God has a perfect plan for His children, He wants the whole universe to be in unison, He wants His people to see one another as brother and sister, to look out for one another both in good and bad times. When we go deeper in understanding this verse, we realize that being kind goes beyond just being nice to another person, it is the way a person carries themselves or we can simply say it is a way of life. Being kind includes being naturally compassionate, generous and selfless. A kind person usually puts the needs of other people before theirs with no expectations of any form of reward for the help given. The world of today sees a reduction in the number of people in possession of the above mentioned qualities. That is, coming across a good kindhearted person has become a rare occurrence because the majority of our people have become angry and frustrated especially by the circumstances they find themselves in, where inequality is high, gradually leading to such easy things as getting a decent service having become a luxury. On the other hand, we live in societies which have developed greediness to the extent that the few elite, who have resources at their disposal, want to amass wealth at any cost and will stop at nothing to attain that which benefits them and their close relations. There is total disregard for the poor and the vulnerable members of our societies.
People nowadays are not afraid to sacrifice a brother to get ahead in life. In our places of work, we come across people who have become back-stabbers in order to get that extra income, a promotion or a preferential benefit, at the expense of a brother or sister which we can call “selling your soul to the highest bidder”. When compared to the olden times, we see our places of worship being filled to full capacity by believers, church goers, Christians, e.t.c. however, when we look at our societies, a different picture and behavior can be observed.
This leaves one wondering, ‘where are we getting it wrong’? In Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV), the word of God tells us, “and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”. God Himself forgives us every single time we do wrong yet we fail to exercise this one act of kindness. When teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus said to them in Luke 11:4 (NKJV), “and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us”. All the social ills that we come across in our everyday lives starts from people failing to let go of the pain, anger, sadness, betrayal e.t.c. that another person did to them. This then builds up as the days and years go by, which later builds up into hatred and we know that when we reach this point anything is possible. As those who are lucky enough to hear the word of God on a daily basis if not once a week, what act of kindness are we doing to try and redeem those who cross our paths? Do we turn a blind eye or we lend a helping hand in times of need. Why isn’t the situation in your area changing or the people in your community showing signs of improvement in terms of their standard of living, their abusive behavior, their hopelessness or whatever situation they are faced with?
G4Y • 4 EGAP
1 ACT OF KINDNESS
Do you know that your courageous behavior or that one act of kindness can save a life today and make a big difference in not just that one person but other people close to them as well. This month, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ in our lives, in a month to come, I edge each one to identify a person, a family or a community which may be in dire need of help and show them through your kindness that indeed God does live amongst us and works through us to reveal Himself to His people. I implore upon the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire every person reading this issue to feel empowered to go out there and find people of God who are in need of help. Let God reveal Himself to you personally through your act of kindness and may we all be blessed as we go out to visit and help those in need of any kind of assistance.
By: K.M. NTEBANG
KINDNESS | A fruit of the Spirit Kindness is mentioned among the nine fruits of the Spirit. These are fruits of the Spirit not the saints. Kindness is born of the Spirit; human energy or effort does not naturally produce kindness; it comes from God. Yes, people can be kind apart from God, but their kindness is impure, incomplete and will not be long lasting. God is our pure model of kindness and of how we should be kind. God is kind to those who have rebelled from him, the wicked. Jeremiah 31:3, "The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." it is not the righteous that God is drawing to Him, but the sinners. We are to follow God's good example of kindness and be grateful to those who are ungrateful to us.
SERMON The kindness of God does not discriminate! God does not treat His enemies differently than He does His friends (Matthew 5:45). God shows His enemies kindness in order to win their friendship, as Paul told the Romans, “God’s kindness leads to repentance” (Romans 2:4). Kindness breaks down barriers and boundaries. Kindness opens the door to the fullness of God’s love and fellowship. Kindness takes in the objectionable and critical; it welcomes those filled with bitterness and bad motives.
G4Y • 5 EGAP
KEY SCRIPTURE: Galatians 5: 22-23
Kindness is love in action. Kindness is not an attitude we develop in our hearts; it is not a new way of thinking about the situations we encounter. Remember we are talking about THE FRUIT of the Spirit. Sometimes all that is needed is a kind word. An elderly lady always went to the local post office because the employees were so friendly. Once she was waiting in a long line to get her monthly social grant. The man in line behind her said, “Mamma there’s no need for you to wait in line; you can get you money in that automatic transmission machine in the lobby.” The old woman said, “I know, but the machine won’t smile or ask about my arthritis.” The only action the machine could provide was to dispense money, but the action of the employees dispensed money and kindness! The Fruit of The Spirit, kindness will take action, take a risk, pay the price, put others first, and give the glory to God . Are you going to allow God’s Spirit to produce kindness in your life? This can only be achieved when you have the Holy Spirit in you, which comes to dwell in you when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
By: Tumelo Lepere
G4Y • 6 EGAP
If you have not already accepted Jesus in your life I would invite you to pray this short prayer : "Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior." If you have prayed this short prayer, you are now a branch in a tree Jesus, and every branch attached to Jesus bears fruits, you are going to produce the fruits of the Spirit, kindness among them.
FITNESS CENTER
G4Y • 7 EGAP
WHY YOU MAY NOT BE LOSING WEIGHT
Weight gain is always associated with bad eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. Which has its merits, if you eat more calories than what your body requires and are inactive, chances are, you will gain weight. The subject of weight gain is a complex one going far beyond the abovementioned scenario. It encompasses a broad number of considerations and I have chosen to discuss the common ones below:
G4Y • 8 EGAP
WHY YOU MAY NOT BE LOSING WEIGHT
a. Low thyroid function: the thyroid is a major regulator of your metabolism (the way your body uses energy). A low thyroid function slows down metabolism significantly which in turn reduces the amount of calories burnt and consequently leading to weight gain; b. Cortisol: Cortisol also regulates metabolism. It is known as the stress hormone as it helps the body respond to stress. When cortisol levels elevate due to stress, the body sends false hunger signals to the brain which may lead to food cravings, over eating and consequently leading to weight gain;
FITNESSCENTER c. Insulin resistance: Insulin is a hormone that regulates the blood sugar. Insulin resistance is the inability of your body to properly convert the food that you eat into energy to fuel your cells. When the body is unable to convert the food eaten into energy, it is converted into fat and stored for later use.
"Before you give up on your fitness journey because of inexplicable weight gain, consult your doctor and to do some test to check whether any of the above could be impeding your progress."
d. Estrogen: Estrogen is an important hormone in the development of a women’s reproductive circle, but when estrogen levels are too high it can lead to a number of symptoms, including weight gain. High levels of estrogen can develop naturally but malt based, amongst other alcoholic beverages and certain prescription drugs such as birth controls can cause elevated levels estrogen in the body.
BY:
Onneile Kealotswe
Fitness Instructor (New Skills Academy)
Infertility You need to recognise that infertility is a disease and a crisis and one of the most difficult challenges that you and your partner will ever face. Expect to feel a sense of loss, to feel incredibly stressed about your body’s failure to do what it is ‘supposed’ to do, sad, depressed and overwhelming by it all. Don’t feel bad about feeling this way. Be kind to yourself and don’t ever feel embarrassed about undergoing infertility treatment. Don’t blame yourself for your inability to conceive and keep reminding yourself that your infertility problems are not your fault. And don’t dwell on the, what ifs-put them you. For example; ‘I’m being punished for doing that abortion. I shouldn’t have put my career first and waited. I shouldn’t have eaten so badly all my life. I shouldn’t have hoped and prayed all those years ago when I was having promiscuous sex that I wasn’t pregnant-and now expect the opposite to happen. Negative thinking patterns will only worsen the situation. Stop punishing yourself and concentrate on your future. Do not shut your partner out but rather work together with him and unite to fight the problem. By no means should you blame each other either for your fertility problems. Passing blame is not going to help you have a baby any sooner. Paying attention to what your partner is going through is. Decide whether you are in or out the closet. According to Tertia, The advantage of being out the closet is that your friends and family know and hopefully understand why you don’t attend baby showers etc. Your potentially anti-social behaviour becomes a little more understandable and they will think twice before asking you when you’re going to have kids. The disadvantage of being out closet is that you have 754 million people who you let down each time you have a negative, or so it feels. Instead of one phone call to your husband telling him of the negative, you have to make 80 phone calls. There is a downside. Perhaps limit the amount of detail you share.
Be practical about it. If you’re undergoing treatment, your husband can deal with your medical aid and take care of the bills (even if it’s coming out of your salary too). If he needs injected hormonal therapy, you can administer the shots. Knowledge is power, so educate yourself and those around you, says Tertia. ‘The more your family and friends understand about your situation, the easier it is for you’. If we can get just one person to stop saying ‘just relax’ we will have helped the sisterhood’, she says. Also, technologies behind the treatment are complicated and change quickly, so you should be first to know about any new developments. If you understand what is happening medically, you can make informed decisions. So read, read, and read. Get help if you need it-from therapists who specialise in infertility and others with fertility problems. Society often fails to recognise the grief caused by infertility, so those denied parenthood tend to hide their sorrow, which only increases their feelings of shame and isolation. Speak to other couples about what they are going through and you will feel less alone. A good place to do this is in internet chat rooms and on bulletin boards. If you want to be anonymous you can be. Set limits on how long you’re willing to try. Some couples decide from the beginning that they won’t go to extreme measures to have a baby. Others spend years and thousands of rands exhausting all of their treatment options. Also try to decide from the start how much you are willing to fork out too. In vitro fertilisation averages R30 000 a cycle in South Africa and women often need to go through multiple cycles before becoming pregnant. To cope with the anxiety caused by the high costs of treatment, sit down and develop a financial plan and look at all assets and determine how much you can spend and on which treatment. You should always have plan B. ‘I was so meticulous about having a plan B that at the beginning of each cycle I had the money saved up and the time allocated for the next one. It made the negative just a bit easier to deal with knowing that I had a backup plan, something to look forward to’, says Tertia.
G4Y • 9 EGAP
Reproductive Health Article
G4Y • 01 EGAP
Take breaks between cycles. ‘From a physical point of view I firmly believe your body needs a break from the terrible stress of a cycle. My worst cycles have been those that were done back to back. From my second IVF I decided to take tree month breaks between cycles.’ Says Tertia. ‘It felt like a holiday, knowing that for three months I could live like a normal person, drink wine and have fun’. Try to find things that you enjoy doing, non-related to baby making. Decline invites to baby-focused activities if you feel you cannot handle it. If certain gatherings or celebrations are too painful for you or if you are feeling too fragile, do not go! ‘They don’t need you to be there, says Tertia. ‘They would like you to, but they don’t need you to. Sometimes you need to protect your own heart more than you need to do the right thing. The right thing for you is to look after yourself’. To avoid hurting people’s feelings (it’s not their fault that you can’t have a baby), send a gift buy it online at Kalahari.net or Take2.co.za to save yourself an understandably difficult trip to a baby ‘Don’t develop amnesia’, says Tertia. ‘When you eventually succeed, or decide to get off the roller coaster, don’t boutique.
develop amnesia and forget what it was like to still be struggling. Do not say things like ‘it will happen for you’-how do you know? Remember the big difference between those who have succeeded and those still trying is that those who have succeeded know. They know there is a (happy) ending journey. The journey is finite. Those still trying do not know. They do not know if they will succeed; she says. This article was from the magazine Your Pregnancy 63,November 2008
If there are people that are not ashamed of their lifestyle, are people in the world. They are not ashamed because they want to share in how they live with other people. They will invite others to join them in what they are doing and where they are going. They invite them with the aim of having fun, it could be babyshower, wedding, chillout session, birthday celebration and any form of celebration. Even if you do not have money they will insist that you just come as you are, they will share whatever is available. Sometimes I feel like the people in the world care more than the Christians. They will be there for you when you need help just that they will not tell you to trust in God who is our creator but they will be by your side and offering all that they have to assist. Christian are supposed to be the people that care more than any other lifestyle that is available out there. We should be the once giving a helping hand because of the God we serve. Christians are so ashamed of the gospel in that, we do not live freely as God has declared that we do and we are. We should be free to worship God without being ashamed of what the next person will say. We believe so much on what people say than what God says. In our homes, how often do we pray for food or pray as a family? How often do you pray for the service and the pastor? How often do you present yourself before God and just express gratitude and not ask for anything? Do we cover our children in prayer when they start school or we leave all of the above to be done in Sunday service? Our homes are not sanctuaries but only the church is. We think going to church every Sunday and being available for conferences, as a Christian you have done your part. It is more than that, it is about how you treat people. What you do with the little that God has given you. We need to be there for people that do thing different from us and learn to assist without judging them. sometimes people need a prayer and they do not have to know that you prayed for them. Assist by praying for that person than one day they will accept your invitation and you will not lose hope in inviting people no matter what excuses they come up with.
We do not look for opportunities to start conversations so that we can eventually invite someone to church or do any act of kindness so that when you eventually invite someone to church they see Christ in you and accept. When you are out just going about your ways, do you practice kindness to a stranger or only to people close to you. Showing kindness is not about you, it is not about how you feel or what you are currently experiencing. God did not save us so that we focus on ourselves, He saved us so that we serve Him. This means looking out for the lost sheep. I do not know if we fear rejection when someone refuses our offer to come to church or we are leaving our own lives, minding our own business. When you get hurt the first thing you do is run to the hospital when you could pray over our wounds then hospital. I am in NO way saying hospitals are not good, they are excellent, but God is able to heal you.
G4Y • 11 EGAP
WE ARE SCARED OF THE GOSPEL/LIFESTYLE REAL TALK
Don’t we believe that He heals, or we fear if He does not? We should be in a state of mind that God is using these doctors and nurses to give us the best health care possible. The doctors and nurses are led by God. I believe we are too busy judging and comparing who is purer and forgetting about the people that need God the most. We believe that faith is only for big things like getting a job or promotion, a relative in the hospital seeking healing. You can have faith in anything small or big. We need faith in parking when we go to a mall. We need to know that our children are watching us in everything we do. We need to work tirelessly to leave a legacy for our children and their children of the things of God. We need to show our children that prayer, trust, and faith in God is EVERTHING. They need to see us praying for food in the house and praying them to sleep. Make it normal to pray. Then when they grow up they will not depart from this lifestyle and they will not have the fear to invite others.
A monthly Devotional By TONY KELESITSE
KILLING THEM WITH KINDNESS Proverbs 11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.
You walk into a shopping mall with a small carry bag going towards where your car is parked and as you get closer, you notice an elderly woman. She is carrying 2 heavy plastic bags on either hand and walking as slow as a snail. What is your impulse in that situation? Maybe lets complicate things a little bit. Lets say you are in a rush, clearly late for work, driving through traffic and probably running some red lights because an important client is waiting for you. Just as you prepare to pull over by your office, there is another driver on the side of the road. The bonnet to his car is ajar and hazard lights are flicking. He is clearly in need of help and everyone else is driving past his cry for help. What is your impulse in that scenario? There is no right answer to the question of impulse in either scenario. Rather the answer is in your nature. How are you wired to respond to similar situations? Do you go out of your way to help someone because you feel the pressure to? Or simply because you expressly want to do it? I would say the latter response should be the case. That is how you define an act of kindness. It does not have to be tethered to an expectation of profit from a situation, but you do not know what form of rewards you might get. The point here is to show that kindness is not a transaction. It is a selfless act which if reciprocated becomes a bonus. The old lady will perhaps say thank you and the other guy would say the same as well. Thanksgiving is the default response from many people who receive kindness. In isolated incidents you get people offering their money for help received or anything in kind.
G4Y • 21 EGAP
Faithful Living
Our key scripture today helps us develop a more selfless definition of kindness. We should, as Christian, purge the assumption that when we show kindness to other people, we lose time, energy and resources. Such thinking is short sighted and misses the mark that God set when he created us as social beings. There is along term reward whenever we invest in other people by serving them when we can. In return we open ourselves up to being served equally or even more. Although we stated earlier that kindness does not prompt any reciprocity, more often than not whoever you were kind to in the past will be kind to you in the future. What say we about situations where you help out someone with something and they are ungrateful and don't even thank you? Should we consider being 'less kind' because our expected outcome was not met? The answer is a bold NO. Remember that your kindness is self motivated and driven by an understanding that God expects us to be kind. Just try it out. Go on a kindness spree and see how people around you react. Most of them will be surprised because they generally dont expect selfless act done for them. This is a common response because of how rotten the world has become. You are the sole benefactor of the profits that come with being kind. God has an account of all these acts and also has a fitting reward for each and every one of them. Start with your close friends and family. Offer to pick their kids up from school. Give them a hand when they are lifting heavy loads. You will have more fruitful relationships and open yourself up having more people rely on you. Ultimately, you would have nurtured a fruit of the spirit which you will enjoy in all its nutrition. Go ahead and kill them with kindness. The metaphor is ironic, but that is exactly what we are called for as children of God. To be fruitful in areas that God has spoken us to about. Your personal, professional and other relationships rely on how much youre willing to sacrifice in serving others selflessly. Do it with an open heart knowing very well that your father has a reaward for you.