I'm excited today because we're continuing our series Life by the Spirit. Say "life." We're studying the fruit of the Spirit, and we're in week number five. Today we're talking about something I'm really excited about, which is kindness.

Why does the fruit of the Spirit matter?

There are a couple of reasons we're doing this as a church. The first reason is that these are our values as a church. Our prayer is that when you come to Spirit, you experience the fruit of the Spirit. You experience love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and everything else. And not only will you experience it here, but when you leave here, you'll take it with you. Amen.

Because we've learned throughout this series that our fruit is evidence of our relationship with Jesus. Our fruit is evidence. It's proof of how we're following God. So if there's something in our life that doesn't look like God, what we need to do is come to a place where we repent. We say, "God, I'm so sorry. Can You make me more like You?" As people eat of our fruit, may they say, "Man, I can see the Holy Spirit is in that person."

The second thing we know is that fruit shows how healthy the tree is. If you go and see some good fruit, you're like, "Man, that's a good tree." In the same way, if you go to a doctor's office, they'll often check your vitals: blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate. What it shows is how healthy that person is. In the same way, fruit actually shows whether we're getting our Christianity right. It shows whether we are truly following God. "Okay, here's one area I'm working on. Here's another area. Ah, I need the Holy Spirit to do a bit of pruning there." But more than anything, it shows where we're healthy. It's not enough just to say, "I'm a Christian." We actually have to show that we are Christians. In that way, our fruit exposes us, because it shows our relationship with God.

I remember the story in the Bible where Jesus is walking and sees a fig tree. He expects to find fruit because there are a bunch of leaves on it. He goes and inspects the leaves, only to find there's no fruit. What is that? It's a tree that looked good from far, but it was far from good. And my question today is: are we a bunch of Christians who look good from far, but we're far from good? Or is it that as people come close to us, "No, no, no, be in relationship with me. See how I really follow Jesus," when they come close, they realize, "Oh my gosh, there's so much fruit here"? The people who love us the most should be the people who know us the most. Because the closer I get to you, the more I realize you're actually bearing the fruit.

And the final reason is this: God wants you to have this fruit. How many of you want more love in your life? How many of you want more kindness in your life? How many of you want more joy in your life? What we know about God is that what we have of God is not all we'll ever get. With God there is always more. And if you're here thinking, "Man, I think I've experienced all there is of God," I have news for you: there is always more of God.

So we're studying the fruit of the Spirit. If you have your Bibles, go to Galatians chapter 5, which is our theme verse for this entire series. Paul writes this to the church in Galatia. They're being pressured to go back to an old system where they're trying to follow the law. And Paul says, "No, no, no. Christ has come. He puts the Holy Spirit in us, and the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in us." Verse 22 says this: "But the fruit of the Spirit," in other words, someone who is full of the Spirit will bear this kind of fruit, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, which is our word for today, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And the question is this: as you look at that list, ask yourself, how much does that actually look like me? How much am I actually bearing that fruit? My entire challenge in this series is not to get you to try to bear the fruit. You can't try to bear the fruit. You have to become it. You have to receive the love of God that changes your heart and forgives you of your past. And once you've received love, you can come to a place where you can give love.

Let me say it this way: you can't learn fruit. It's a byproduct of who we are. So if there's a part of us that doesn't look like Jesus, you can't learn it. You have to say, "Holy Spirit, prune me. Change me. Change me from the inside out." And as you become it, all of a sudden the fruit starts to come. Does that make sense? I don't want you to try to do this with willpower. That's not how it works. It's the Holy Spirit who produces it in us.

So today we're focusing on kindness. Say "kindness." Turn to your neighbor and say, "You look like you need some kindness." Turn to your second choice, your second option, and say, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't kind. I picked you last." No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing.

What are the benefits of kindness?

We're learning about kindness, and what I want to ask you is, how is your kindness branch? I pray that you'll want kindness, because kindness is one of those things, almost like patience, where you're like, "Do I really want to be kind?" Because it just seems so inconvenient. Anyone? Sometimes being kind just isn't fun. "I need to give of myself, and I need to turn the other cheek, and I don't know if I want to do that." Right? But I pray you would want kindness.

Get this. I love this. Proverbs 11:17 says this: "Those who are kind benefit others." No. What does it say? Those who are kind benefit who? Themselves. "Those who are kind benefit themselves."

I was studying kindness this week, and I was like, "Okay, I want to have kindness." And I realized that kindness does a lot for us. Do you know that kindness actually helps us emotionally? There are studies that show that when you're kind, it releases oxytocin in the brain, which is like the love hormone. You just feel more connected with people. Then it releases dopamine, and you feel euphoric, and then it releases serotonin. When you're actually kind, you become more trusting, more generous, friendlier. So the more you're kind, the more these hormones are released, which makes you want to be more kind, which releases more hormones, and you're in the cycle of kindness. Isn't that awesome?

What you do is start creating a neurological pathway to kindness, and you find that you experience more joy in your life. You experience more fulfillment in your life. And you start breaking the neurological pathways of selfishness, where you feel pain and bitterness and all these other things. The more you're kind, the happier you are, and the more you want to be kind. Those who are kind benefit themselves.

In fact, if someone is experiencing pain, depression, and anxiety, the prescription some psychotherapists are starting to write is kindness. Did you know that? Not a pill. Someone says, "I'm feeling pain. I'm feeling depressed," and they say, "Here's the prescription: be kind." And I love that psychotherapists are figuring this out, because 3,000 years ago, when Solomon wrote that passage, he said, "Those who are kind benefit" who? Themselves. The Bible had the truth all along. I love that science is finally catching up with it.

What we've found in our lives is that the happiest people are not the people with the most money. It's the people who give their lives away. A couple of years back, we were at a church doing Christmas services. It was crazy. We did one on Christmas Eve, and we loaded in and loaded out about 10 times this amount. On Christmas Eve we finished services, and we were loading out at 3:00 a.m. Christmas morning. We pushed the last case into storage, and Patrick, our production director, and I were both crying at 3:00 a.m. Not because we were tired. We were like, "Man, can we just do that again?" Because we had just gotten to see thousands of people give their lives to Christ. There was nowhere else I would rather have been at 3:00 in the morning than pushing a case into a storage unit. I was so fulfilled. Why? Because people who are kind experience the most fulfillment.

And it doesn't only help us emotionally. It actually helps us physically. When you make your life about adding value to others, when you make your life about being kind, you're going to find that even in your work, you'll experience more blessing than those who don't. People ask, "Brad, what do you look for in a team member?" I look for someone who has the fruit of the Spirit: love and joy and peace and patience and kindness. The more you have those values, the more I can trust you with.

Doesn't it work the same way with God? The more we live into His values, the more He can entrust us with. Sometimes we're like, "God, why aren't You trusting us with more?" But we're not actually living according to the values of the Bible. Jesus talks about this in the parable of the talents. Matthew 25:21 says this: "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"

"Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves." Break God's principles long enough and they will eventually break you. Break God's principles for your marriage, for your purity, for sexuality, for finances, break them long enough, and eventually they will break you. Those who are kind benefit themselves, but those who are cruel bring ruin on themselves.

It benefits us. Isn't that fun? I'm like, man, we can go home now. Let's be kind. It helps us. Let's go do it. But before anything, I want you to want to be kind, because I think the enemy has often convinced us that we shouldn't be kind, because being kind takes something away from us. So before we even talk about how we become it, I wanted to say, "No, no, no. We actually need to get to a place where we want it." So that's the why of kindness.

What is the difference between nice and kind?

The second thing is this: what is it? Because in this world we're so confused about what kindness actually is. We often confuse it with niceness. Oh, we're going there. We confuse it with niceness. God never commanded us to be nice. He didn't command me to be nice. He commanded me to be kind.

So what is kindness? There are a bunch of words we can come up with. It's friendly. It's considerate. "Hey, how are you doing? It's good to see you." It can be helpful. It can be generous. In fact, in the Greek, the word for kind is actually benevolence, or usefulness. It's kind, humble, meek, gentle. One of the Bible translations actually says it is tenderhearted, and we'll talk about that in a second.

But let's talk about the differences between niceness and kindness. I saw that there are seven differences.

One is in source. Nice comes from a desire to be liked, to avoid conflict, to keep the peace. "I'm going to say what you want me to say." Kindness comes from the Spirit forming Christlike character in us. They have different sources.

They have different goals. Niceness seeks comfort, approval, smooth interactions. "I don't want to rock the boat." But kindness seeks the good of the other person, even when it's uncomfortable. One seeks comfort, and the other says, "No, no, no. I'm going to step into this place. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to love you enough to tell you the truth, even if it makes me uncomfortable." That's kindness.

They're different in strength. Niceness is soft. It's passive. It easily bends. "What can I do to make you happy?" Niceness will bring Christians to a place where they'll affirm anything just so they don't make you upset. Amen. And there comes a place where we have to stand on the truth of God. We don't have to be jerks about it. We need to be kind. But we do get to stand on the Word of God.

It's crazy to say a sentence like "A man is a man and a woman is a woman." Twenty years ago, if you said that, everyone would stare at you like you had 20 heads. "Why are you saying that? That's obvious." But now we're at a place where Christians are afraid to even say that because they're trying to be nice. God didn't call us to be nice. He called us to be kind. And He called us to be holy. And kindness is, "I will tell you the truth in love, even if it makes the situation uncomfortable." Does that help?

We can't just be nice. Niceness will cause us to affirm sin and not call sin sin, just to keep the peace. Right before this list in Galatians 5, it talks about the works of the flesh, things like sexual immorality, porneia. What is that? It's any sexual intimacy outside of a marriage between one husband and one wife. Anything outside of that, the Bible defines as porneia. And for us to start bending because we're trying to make people happy, that's not kind. Allowing people to sit in the things that ultimately are going to make them unhappy because they're not following God's laws, that is not kind. Addiction: "It's okay. Don't worry about it." That's not kind. It may be nice, but it's not kind.

I won't accuse you. I won't judge you, because I'm a sinful person just like you. The Bible says I need to take the log out of my own eye before I take the speck out of yours. So I will not condemn you and I will not judge you, but I will tell you the truth. Why? Because in the truth you can have what? Life. Freedom.

Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." And so many of us are experiencing death, sadness, brokenheartedness. We're experiencing all this pain, all this grief, because we're doing things that are contrary to God's Word. And if we would just find some Christians who can be kind, the Word of God can set people free.

And let me say, if you're struggling with any of those things, why not try it God's way? What do you have to lose? Run after God. Any part of your life that doesn't look like Him, cut it off. Start following Him. Get into your Bible. Worship Him. And watch what He does in the next year. Amen.

Grace and truth

We have to call sin sin. Jesus never affirmed someone in their incorrect belief so they could feel understood. He never affirmed someone in their incorrect belief so they could feel understood. He loved them.

The woman caught in adultery, John 8:10–11. He didn't say, "How dare you? You shouldn't do this. You should know better." No, He was kind. "Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared." Grace. "Go now and leave your life of sin." Truth.

As Christians, kindness always has both. We've said this before: truth without grace is mean, but grace without truth is meaningless. We have to have both, where we say, "I don't condemn you, but this is what the Bible says. Go and sin no more." We have to be kind, loving, and grace-filled. Does that help? Praise God.

So nice is soft, passive. It easily bends. Kind is strong, active, willing to step in with courage and love and truth.

They have different approaches. Nice avoids hard conversations. Kind speaks the truth in love because it knows the truth heals and liberates.

Their cost is different. Nice costs nothing. "Hey, how are you doing?" Costs me nothing. Kindness often actually costs us something: time, energy, patience. If I'm having a conversation with you and I say something hard, what I just said cost me something, because saying it could cost the relationship. Being truthful costs something. That's kind.

Their focus is different. Nice is focused on me, but kind is focused on you. I want to say what I need to say for your benefit.

They have different depths. Nice is surface level, but kind is Christ-level transformation. Niceness is about avoiding discomfort, but kindness is about pursuing someone else's good. Does that help? That's the difference between niceness and kindness. I want us to be kind.

How do you become kind?

So for the rest of our time, I want to spend it on this question: how do we become kind? Not how do we do kind. How do we actually become kind? How do we get it on the inside of us? I think the Bible actually teaches us. Ephesians 4:32 says, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted." That's our word. Say "tenderhearted." Kindness is a heart issue. And if we can fix our heart, if we can allow the Holy Spirit to do surgery on our heart, all of a sudden kindness comes. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted.

What does a hard heart look like?

I'm afraid that in the last days, the Bible says, our hearts will not be tender. They will become hard. The Bible talks about it in 2 Timothy 3:1: "You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times." Say "difficult." That word is used two times in the Bible. It's used here, and the other time it's used when it's talking about demonic forces making things hard.

"For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred." Y'all see that? Is that happening? Nothing sacred. "They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious." What does that mean? They're going to go to church. They're going to do all the things. "Look at my leaves." I have no fruit, but look at my leaves. "But they will reject the power that could make them godly."

Jude 18–19: "They said to you, 'In the last times there will be scoffers.'" There will be people who mock you, people who make fun of you for the things you believe, "who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the people who divide you." "Don't say that. Don't do that. Say this instead." It divides Christians. People "who follow mere natural instincts": if it feels good, it is good. "And do not have the Spirit."

Matthew 24:12: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." Numb. Hard of heart.

In the New King James Version, 2 Timothy 3:2–3 describes four things that I think show hardness of heart. And if we can undo them, I believe kindness can come. It says they will be "unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving." If we can just remove the "un," we get to see all of those things change. Does that help? I know today's heavier. It needs to be. It needs to be, because I want to make sure we understand this and we don't settle for something less than what God actually has for us. So today we're doing a bit of heart surgery.

1. Unthankful

The first thing is this: unthankful. My question for you today is, have you come to a place where you're just unthankful? How do you know that's happened? When the breeze moves you no more. When those cold, crisp mornings don't move you. When the mountains don't move you. When you don't get to a place where you're just in awe of who God is. Just unthankful, forgetting the goodness of God.

It's crazy. I've gone on mission trips before where we've given communities a single soccer ball, and they're so happy. And I'm like, how could they, who have so much less than me, be so much happier than me? And what you actually realize is that the more you get, it's not that the happier you are. The more you get, the less content you actually are.

There's a book written in 2003 called The Progress Paradox, and you need to get the subtitle: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse. And I'm like, that's our life. It talks about how things have progressed, but we're less happy.

Communication: now we have instant messaging, FaceTime, 24/7 notifications, but we're more disconnected. Back in the day we had a landline phone, letters, and face-to-face conversations, and relationships were stronger. Information: we have unlimited access to news articles, videos, tutorials, and opinions. Back then it was a newspaper, a library card, and a few trusted sources, and we weren't as overwhelmed and anxious. Shopping: now anything you could want comes to your door in 24 hours. Back then you had to go have a conversation, actually meet someone, actually pick. You bought less, but you were happier.

Parenting resources: oh my gosh, I have a two-year-old and a one-year-old, and there are hundreds of blogs about what I should do. And my parents were like, "You know, Brad, all we had was one or two people. We weren't as stressed out, and look, you survived." And I'm like, wait, you're right. Community: now we have thousands of online connections, but little friendship. Back then you had neighbors, church, family, smaller circles but deeper bonds. Time fillers: now there's endless entertainment. Back then it was board games, books, walks, and hobbies.

There's a book called Sabbath as Resistance. It's about how the people of God practiced Sabbath, and how it was an act of resisting culture. And sometimes I just wonder if we need to get to a place where we resist culture, where we take a day and don't numb ourselves with entertainment, but go outside and walk and appreciate what God is doing. It's why we come to church, so we can come to this place and say, "God, You're so good. You're so good."

Romans 1:20–21 says, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen," the birds, the mountains, the trees, "being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him." One of the worst things is to come to a place where we're unthankful.

What do we need to do? Titus 3:3–5 says, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Here's the truth: the more grateful we are for God's kindness toward us, the more we're able to be kind to others. So how's your thankfulness?

2. Unholy

The second thing is unholiness. Sometimes we can get to a place where we're unmoved by the sin that exists in our lives. "No, it's just a little bit of sin. Just a little bit of sin." And we're compromising things and feeling broken. There are some of you in this place today dealing with some things. It might be small, but I wonder, today, don't you just want to leave that here? Don't you just want to say the beautiful words, "God, forgive me"? Leave it here and walk out what? Free. Walk out what? Clean.

The more sin we have in our lives, the more our souls are emotionally wrecked. Leave it here. It's like cancer. We have 30 trillion cells in our bodies, and we say, "It's just a little bit of sin." But 0.01% of cancer is deadly. Sin is the same.

Romans 11:22: "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off." We have to come to a place where we say, "Father, forgive me." And I think for many of us, the Holy Spirit is telling you what you need to do. What we need to know is that delayed obedience is disobedience. Whatever it is God is speaking to you about, leave it here. Say, "Father, forgive me." You need to confess to God. Maybe you need to tell someone, "Hey, man, I've been struggling with this." And what will you experience? Love and freedom, as they say, "Man, I've struggled with that same thing too."

And this is what will happen. Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure, all things are pure." When we become pure, we're pure in our kindness. We're pure in our love. "But to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." Proverbs 21:21. Here's what we do: we pursue righteousness and kindness so that we will find what? Life. God's ways are the best ways. His law isn't there to break us. His law is actually there to help us.

3. Unloving

The third thing is this: unloving. And to be honest with you, I feel like this is something our church probably struggles with the least. When I think of you guys, when I have conversations with you guys, you're the most loving church I know. And I just want to say thank you. Thank you for loving people so well that people like Jess and Meline can get baptized and say, "Man, this is my first time here." Thank you for being such an incredible church. When we're unloving, we're hateful toward others, and I just don't see that here.

My prayer is that as a church, even if people disagree with us, they'll say, "Man, but those people are really helpful." They may disagree with us, but they'll get to the place where they're like, "Man, they do so much good for the community." I pray we'll be a church that, if this church were ever to leave, the community would miss it because of how it served the community.

Y'all know this more than anything: I love y'all, and this is why I'm so thankful for the way you give. Hurricane Melissa hits, and we don't even need to take up an offering. You're already represented. We've already partnered with people, sending resources, everything we can to help. 3,000 kids have received the Word of God who otherwise wouldn't have, because of you. As a church, you're represented, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the way you serve. Thank you for the way you give.

As a church, we've always made this commitment: we'll always take 10% of everything that comes in, and we're going to give it away. That's what we've done from the beginning. If you go look at our bank statement, the very first five transactions that ever came out of this church were to missions. We're not here for us. We're here to see people reached, and we're here to reach the world. That's what you're a part of. So thank you for being loving.

We have a couple of opportunities. As you walked in, you saw that we're partnering to give toys to kids who otherwise wouldn't have them. We partner with the parents and make the parents the hero. We don't need to be the hero. They need to be the hero, and we do it in Jesus' name. If you want to bring unwrapped gifts, you can just drop them right there. It'll be there this week and next week. Make sure you drop something.

On December 14th, we're going to have our Legacy Offering. That's the offering we give away. I'm telling you now because I will never emotionally pull on your heart. We're not like that. But we have some projects we want to do to help people, and December 14th you'll have an opportunity to be part of that. And if you're unable to, that's beautiful. Don't worry. In the past you have, and in the future you will.

Another thing: I want everyone to grab this card. These are acts of kindness cards. My prayer is that we actually practice kindness this week. These cards are an opportunity for you to love on someone. Go through the drive-thru and pay for the car behind you. If it's a minivan, maybe you want to circle again. I'm joking. "Okay, that'll be $300." "I'm just going to circle around and try that again." But pay for the person behind you, say, "Hey, can you tell them it's paid for?" and give them this card. It says, "Something extra to show God loves you and so do we." Leave someone a tip and give them this. Mow someone's grass and give them this. Let's actually start practicing this, and watch the endorphins release. Does this help?

4. Unforgiving

The final thing, and then we'll close out, is unforgiving. It is virtually impossible to let kindness and unforgiveness exist in your heart at the same time. You can't have it both ways. You can either have kindness or you can have unforgiveness, and you get to choose. I heard this illustration: unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It just doesn't work.

And I'm not saying what happened to you wasn't bad. But right now I'm not trying to help them. I'm trying to help you. I'm not saying what happened is okay, but I am saying that at some point we need to trust God and say, "God, I forgive them. I forgive them for what happened."

Colossians 3:12–13 says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." And watch this: whenever kindness is mentioned, so is forgiveness. "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone." Why? What's the motivation? "Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

There's a quote from Lewis Smedes that says this: "To forgive is to set the prisoner free, only to discover that the prisoner was me." Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Imagine if the same measure we used on others was the measure God used on us. And that's actually what the Bible teaches. Matthew 6:14–15: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 7:2: "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:37–38: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Kindness is a heart issue

How different would our marriages, our lives, our workplaces be if we actually lived in the paradigm of kindness? Can you imagine? It would set this world alight. So the question today is simply this: of those four "uns," what do you need to surrender to God? And as you do, and as He prunes, watch kindness pop out. Not niceness. Kindness. Does that help? Amen. Can I pray for you guys?

Father, I want to thank You today. Lord, I want to thank You for every single person who's here. God, I want to thank You for the most loving church, Lord, for the kindest church. And Father, I thank You that this is a heart issue, and Lord, that You are the perfect surgeon. I pray that You will work in us the things that need to be worked in us, and that You'll allow us to be kind and loving and generous.

I just want to take a moment, with every head bowed and every eye closed. There may be some people here today who have never started a relationship with God. In fact, you feel a million miles from Him. If that's you, you don't yet understand His kindness. You haven't experienced His kindness. We just want to give you the opportunity to start a relationship with Him, to say, "Today is the day I'm giving my life to Christ. Today is the day I'm going all in with Him." No one's looking around. If that's you, and you're like, "Brad, today I want to make myself right with God," I'm going to count to three, and I just want you to slip up your hand real quick. Here we go. One, two, three. If that's you, thank you. I see those hands without hesitation. Thank you. I love that.

I want to encourage you to pray this prayer with me. Just whisper it in your heart: "Dear Jesus, I believe that You're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Jesus, I know You came to this earth, You died on a cross, and You were raised so that I may have life. And right now, I make You my Lord. I make You my Savior. I give every part of me to You. You are Lord of my life. You guide my decisions. In Your name we pray. In Jesus' name." And everybody said, "Amen." Come on, church, can you do me a favor? Give a hand to everyone who just made that decision.