You Are Not Alone With Debbie & Greg Gold
As a mother and son team, Debbie and Greg come together to talk about the realities and struggles we all face in today’s world. They cover a wide array of topics from mental health to current events to teaching on topics that will help you do life. As Christians, they know there is one thing that brings peace, hope, and encouragement to anything life throws our way, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You don't know what you don't know, so come along on the ride. Your life and heart will be changed forever!
You Are Not Alone With Debbie & Greg Gold
Beyond Good Intentions: Living the Fruit that Transforms Relationships
As summer heat rises, Debbie and Greg Gold complete their exploration of the Fruit of the Spirit with this captivating final installment focusing on faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. After sharing personal highlights—from Greg's culinary adventures to Debbie's neighborhood evangelism—they briefly recap the first six fruits before diving deep into these final three transformative qualities.
Faithfulness emerges as a two-way street between God and others, demonstrated through reliability and loyalty that builds trust in every relationship. Debbie shares how her reputation for trustworthiness directly led to career opportunities, showing how this fruit creates tangible benefits in our lives. Greg reflects on how daily spiritual disciplines strengthen this fruit, ultimately pleasing God and deepening human connections.
Their discussion of gentleness challenges common misconceptions, revealing it not as weakness but as profound strength manifested through compassion and emotional control. Debbie's vulnerable story about restraining herself from sending a harsh email demonstrates this fruit in action—choosing to diffuse rather than fuel conflict. Self-control completes the series as they explore how this empowering gift helps believers align with God's will rather than succumbing to worldly influences.
Throughout the conversation, practical examples make these spiritual concepts accessible and applicable to everyday challenges from traffic frustrations to workplace conflicts. The hosts emphasize that cultivating these fruits isn't about perfection but consistent growth through daily spiritual practices and moment-by-moment awareness.
Ready to deepen your spiritual journey? Subscribe to the You Are Not Alone podcast, share with friends, and consider supporting this growing ministry through our donation link in the show notes. What fruit of the Spirit are you focusing on developing in your life right now?
Hello, this is Debbie and Greg Gold, and welcome to the you Are Not Alone podcast, where we cover topics that will help you navigate life, and, as Christians, we know that we can't do it alone. We need Jesus. We encourage you to join us on the journey that will help you begin or deepen your walk with Christ, no matter where you are.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome back to the you Are Not Alone podcast with Debbie and Greg. This week we're going to continue our discussion on the fruit of the spirit and, if you remember the last episode, we talked about the fruit forbearance, kindness and goodness. But first it's going to be time for the highlights of the week. So what were yours? What do you got?
Speaker 1:oh, hey, um, hey everybody. Um, I have, I have two actually. Okay, that were my highlights um the first one, so I don't know what night it was, but anyways I was. Um we, we make homemade chicken tenders and um, greg wanted to know how to do it yeah, so greg's really good at, like you know, making tacos and the the things that you know we do when we're young and starting out cooking and he does that, our hamburger helper simple stuff, yeah the simple stuff that's not too hard, but this was like an actual recipe the first time he's done like a recipe.
Speaker 1:Well around me, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, yeah, I could be lying, I don't know.
Speaker 1:So anyway, it was really great to see, it was just a deep joy and if you're a mom you probably get this For me just to see him accomplish a process and he did so good, it was just very natural. It was just teaching him some little tips, like we didn't have buttermilk, so you have to make milk, you mix milk with vinegar and let it sit for about 10 minutes and then you have your cup of buttermilk and so, anyway, it was just really nice to see him, you know, accomplish a new task and this is like a, you know, one of those domestic skills that, uh, greg will.
Speaker 1:It will serve you well all your life right, yeah and then uh, over the weekend I believe, uh made lasagna and you were helping me put the oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean he's really a natural.
Speaker 1:So, you know, ladies pay attention anyway. And then I have another one too. It's kind of tickles me. We had stopped by, um, one of our, our rentals, and, uh, I needed to get the name of the landlord to a house that was right next to us or is right next to us, and Greg and I were over there doing doing some things, and I heard some voices. So I ran over there real quick and I was talking to the tenant and it's, you know, mom and dad. They have two young kids like tiny, tiny, you know, the ones that put fingerprints all over your windows and your doors and so, well, we got to chatting it up.
Speaker 1:I got the information I needed, but we were talking for a while and she's just really sweet. So I reached out to her recently and just said, hey, are you all looking for like a church? And she's like, yeah, we haven't really landed on anything. And so I told her about our church. And then, um, of course I shared our podcast stuff with her, but she's just super sweet, and so I invited her to go to church. And you know, we'll see how that works out. But, um, you know, god was definitely working, uh, clearly in in my day that day.
Speaker 2:So anyway, that just made me feel really good that's awesome, yeah so, and then mine uh, well, at the house we have no water, so I'd improvise because I want to go on our lake where we live, yeah, so our, our cove is dry our cove is dry, right now and I was getting off work and I was like I really want to go swimming.
Speaker 2:So, uh, last Friday went swimming, that was amazing. And then I went Saturday again too, and then it was just nice to jump in the lake, because it's been probably three years since I've jumped in the lake, something like that. So because we haven't had that water up to the, up to the dock and everything um then I went fishing last night, caught a couple bluegills which were like some smaller fish, but it was just nice.
Speaker 1:How big are they?
Speaker 2:about that, I'd say yeah pretty small, probably five, six inches. But yeah, it was just nice to finally jump in the water after a while and just Spent some time in the sun, basically, yeah, yeah. So that's my hat.
Speaker 1:That's nice.
Speaker 2:You went to a friend's house, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cool, all right. Well, it's that time of year and it's starting to get hot, so you'll probably be doing that a lot more.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, For sure.
Speaker 1:Anyway, okay, so, oh, I just want to say Saturday, remember, we went to the pool party and we were playing pool like, okay, pool party, like as in pool party at my friend Linda's house, and then she has the pool table and we played with we played with Ryder, so she's having a pool party on Saturday, so oh, cool anyway, we'll be probably doing that in the water and playing pool so I'm looking forward to that yeah so anyway, I'll see if I can win some money off rider a little five-year-old anyway, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, today we are, you know, finishing up fruits of the spirit. We're on the last three, and those are faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But we thought maybe it might be a good, because it's a lot of information, right. So we thought we'd just kind of run through just some of the highlights of each one, starting with the first one, which is love and you know, this is as a reminder, this is not referring to, you know, loving our families, our spouses, our friends, because that's easy, right, it's about the people that are hard to, maybe not easy to, love, let's put it that way. So, just remembering that if we are wronged by somebody, that it's not healthy or godly to retaliate and and try to get even and, um, I know I've done that before, but, yeah, then you just feel not so good about yourself. Um, so instead we're asked to bless them and to pray for them. So that is love.
Speaker 1:Our second one is joy, and joy can. The idea behind this one is that joy remains there even when there's circumstances that seem really terrible, or gloom and doom. So this is a joy that doesn't come from the earthly things like oh, you know, I won the lottery, or oh, I just got a new car or you know all these things. We just bought a house. It's it's more about this constant joy that we have, regardless of what our situation is Okay.
Speaker 1:And then the third fruit is peace, and this is a piece where God um Peace, and this is a peace where God it's with God. I'm sorry, but it's also with other people. You know. It's a peace during difficult times and it's a tranquility that lives in our heart and knowing and trusting that our times are in the hands of God. So when we're going through difficult times in our lives and sometimes they feel like they've never quit I've got a girlfriend or they don't quit.
Speaker 1:That's a little bit how I feel sometimes with stuff going on with dad and his illness. But I just got a call from one of my best friends over the weekend and her and her husband are dealing with a lot of stuff right now and she just texted me yesterday and said I just you know where's God, how come he's letting me go through this, and you know there's just a lot of hurt and a lot of pain and she's worried about her future and all those things, and so I just tried to encourage her that you know God's got this. Let's try to, you know, stay peaceful throughout this and um, you know it's hard, it's hard, really hard.
Speaker 2:But it's just about trusting that your hands are in the name of God, or your, your times are in the hands of God, yeah so.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:And that's what gives you peace from that.
Speaker 1:Right, and I think that the theme I see here in all these fruits is it's all of these are related to God, but they're also related to the people in our lives and us and how we handle situations, mm-hmm. So does that make sense? Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, I mean.
Speaker 1:God wants us to be these things. He's doing what he's doing in our lives for a reason unbeknownst to us, and you know, it's all it's. It just is, and so what we have to do is really just focus on how are we going to stay in the fruit of the Spirit. So it's hard, it's hard.
Speaker 2:No doubt about it.
Speaker 1:All right. So the fourth fruit is where did it go here? Forbearance. So forbearance is basically patience, right? It speaks to the, our ability to endure challenges, frustrations and adversity with grace and composure. I need to memorize those two words grace, grace and composure.
Speaker 2:Good words for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it just enables us, you know, to just get through difficult moments without giving into anger and despair. It calls for patience and it's really a strength. You know, people look at this as it could be a weakness, but it really isn't it's an. It's a strength that allows us to trust in God's timing, knowing that his plan is perfect when even when it's, you know, requires that we have to wait.
Speaker 2:So that's what it's called faith, so right. And then the fifth fruit is going to be kindness. Uh, kindness goes beyond mere friendliness. It is an active concern and care for others, even when circumstances make it challenging. So always checking in on people, seeing how they're doing, and just being being caring and concerning for others right. So exactly um I mean some kindness and action is to like extend grace, patience and understanding to those ground around us, including those who may be difficult or unkind.
Speaker 1:So it's about lifting others up, offering encouragement and creating an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance yeah, I always think about um when I am dealing with someone that's hard or difficult to remember that I'm just not perfect either. I can be hard or difficult, right, and so I would want someone to extend that grace to me as God does to all of us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you want to rise above the petty grievances and human shortcomings, because like you said we're not perfect. None of us are perfect, so just demonstrating instead the divine love that resides within us exactly.
Speaker 1:And then the sixth fruit is goodness, and that is really basically moral integrity. I think this is one of my best ones and I do that. I do it the best. Um, you know I do have high regard for you know being moral and have integrity and virtue. And this one comes easy to me. The other ones can come hard. So goodness calls us to live out our faith authentically, showing kindness and honesty and a genuine concern for others. And I think that's it for those six, and I think we should move on then to the next three fruits. I'm sorry, I'm a little distracted watching the screen over here. Okay, so the next fruits. The last three are faithfulness, gentleness and Greg.
Speaker 2:Self-control Yay.
Speaker 1:Okay. So faithfulness let's talk about that one first. This is faithfulness to not only God, but to all people, and when I think of faithfulness, I think of being like reliable, loyal, and again, that one's a little bit easier for me too. I am a very loyal person. Faithfulness to God means trusting in him and loving him through all your circumstances, kind of what we've been talking about here. Also, it means following his commandments, even when we'd rather choose a different path, and you know that's our flesh getting in the way. So, greg, what comes to mind when you practice being reliable and loyal to God? And then, what about people in general?
Speaker 2:Being reliable and loyal to God. It's like you know reading the word every day, trusting in him, um, you know, showing up, going to church, um, just basically trying to please him to always being there. You know, loyal, Um, and then people as well, being reliable and loyal for them. It strengthens the relationships for sure. If you know that you can trust somebody completely, then I think it helps a lot. But yeah, that's what I got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was thinking definitely building trust, trust with God and trust with other people right, and when people come to see you as a reliable person, I think they call on you more. They rely on you for when they need something exactly you know. Or if you know, it's like I know a Greg he's you know he's a good person and you know what I think I want to offer him a job.
Speaker 1:You know whatever, um, I mean, that's kind of how I got my job, doing my work with brad and susan. It was like someone knew I knew my character and knew what I knew. And um nailed the interview and they said you know, I work with their books. So he, brad, said to goes. You know, we interviewed someone else and we really weren't sure that we could trust her and he goes. Clearly, I can. You know, I feel no problem trusting you at all and you know, that's, that's nice.
Speaker 2:Really nice to hear yeah.
Speaker 1:So, okay, the eighth fruit is gentleness. Uh, gentleness is oftenleness is often misunderstood as a weakness right it is actually a profound strength.
Speaker 1:It involves exercising care and compassion and humility in our interactions with other people, true gentleness. Gentleness reflects a heart that seeks to uplift rather than to demean, and to heal rather than to harm. And when we embody gentleness, we demonstrate the ability to control our emotions and respond with patience and grace, even in challenging situations. And I think of when I was putting this script together. I was thinking about I had just gotten an email from someone that was sort of well, not nice, and I just, you know, started typing and I was like do I really need to say that? That's what I said to myself, do I really need to say that? And then I went totally back, back, back, back back back, back, I did.
Speaker 1:I caught myself. I was like no, what's that going to do, right? And so I took that part out and uh looked at you know, putting out a solution to the problem and not blaming somebody or attacking somebody. And so, uh, hopefully that's maybe something that you can think about the next time you want to go off on somebody, right, oh, shoot, okay. So, greg, I have a question for you.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:How do you think that cultivating gentleness impacts our relationships with God and with others?
Speaker 2:What's pleasing to God? I mean, it's like it said, it involves exercising care, compassion and humility and interactions with others. So with God, that's extremely pleasing to him. And then with others. I mean, if you're showing care, compassion and humility, once again it's going to build relationships. Humility, um, once again it's going to build relationships with people and then it's going to deepen your bond with them.
Speaker 1:I think yes, so yeah, that's so true but yeah, no, I don't think it's a weakness at all and it is a profound strength, like you said so yeah, to heal rather than harm, and yeah yeah, because you know, we all make mistakes and we all say things because maybe we're mad or whatever, and so I what I look at, how I look at that, is that we don't feel feel fuel, that we um diffuse it. So the difference between feeling it or diffusing it, there we go.
Speaker 1:And the final fruit is self-control. So this is a gift that empowers us to rise above temptations of our fallen nature. It allows us to resist worldly influences and to discipline our desires, guiding our hearts and minds toward God's will. Self-control is not merely about denying oneself, but about aligning our actions with our higher purpose. It embodies a strength born of the Spirit, enabling us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. Um, yeah, that's again. I'm thinking of the devil and the angel, or whatever on our shoulders.
Speaker 1:All right. Greg question how have you seen self-control transform lives, both in your own experiences and in those around you?
Speaker 2:Um, self-control I mean just being more control of your emotions I think is a really big one. You know, somebody cuts you off in traffic. You can choose to either get really mad or you can just choose to ignore them. Um, keeping your thoughts to yourself, possibly when somebody says something that you don't like, or in a bad that's hurtful, yeah, or just trying to stay in a positive attitude.
Speaker 1:So, always trying to stay positive, um, yeah I think of when you were talking about that um traffic thing. I I think of pastor chris at church and you know he's just really got this thing about people traffic.
Speaker 2:He has issues, yeah.
Speaker 1:And he, I mean he talks about it, he laughs about it. You know he tries to work on it. So you know, none of us are perfect, not even our pastors. Anyway, it makes me laugh All right. Well then, how can we cultivate this fruit more intentionally in our daily walk?
Speaker 2:Resisting worldly influences self-discipline too. Yeah, those are the two. I'd say yeah.
Speaker 1:I think that yeah really is trying to catch yourself, and I think by being in the Word every day, like I like to do my time in the morning, that really just helps me get into a really good space and I think my days go better and I can control a lot more of this stuff when I do that, and so I think that's really important, All right, Well, uh, that takes us to our takeaways uh, for these three fruits, and the first, uh first takeaway for faithfulness, or the takeaway for that is just being loyal and reliable to God and to the people in our lives and with God. It means to trust God deeply and to love him in all our situations, the good and the struggles. So that's faithfulness.
Speaker 2:Second one is going to be gentleness. Remember it's not a weakness, it's being caring, compassionate and humbling. It's a highly sought-after trait in every person, every man or woman.
Speaker 1:It really is Self-control. This is what allows us to rise above temptation. Let the holy spirit allow you to resist worldly influences and to discipline our fleshly, fleshly desires. Yeah, that's that whole worldly influence. That's tough, all right. So call to action.
Speaker 1:Go ahead and email us at youarenotaloneatdebbieandgreggoldcom. Tell us what you want to hear about, or maybe things that you're, you know, wanting to know or struggling with. We'd be happy to consider it for an episode. And please tell your community about us. Our numbers are just, on a weekly basis, going up and up and up our listenership, and so we're really super excited about that. So share, share with your people, and then we are looking to bring our message to more and more people, and so we have added a listener support option at the bottom that will show up at the bottom of all show notes, so with one click, you can donate to support us, and then, by supporting us, you are being the hands and feet of Jesus, and your generosity is helping us help others come to and continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, and we'd be so, um so thankful and blessed that you would consider doing that for us, and I guess I guess that's our show for today.
Speaker 1:We hope you enjoyed this series for sure. Uh hope it wasn't too much information. It's a lot. It is very teachy.
Speaker 2:If you haven't already done so, please visit our website at debbieandgregoldcom and make sure to subscribe.
Speaker 1:All right, we'll see you back here next time and thank you, god, for this episode, and remember that Jesus is always with you.
Speaker 2:You are not alone.
Speaker 1:And we love you, take care.