Fruit Produced

This journey has been so personal to me, so much of an inner thing, that I never considered that the outside is part of the transformation also. That was until I read Matthew 7:20. "Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced." So, although I am doing this for no one other than the Lord, I am identified by the fruit I produce. Well, I am glad no one could see me in the comfort of my own home yelling at my children and nagging my husband several months ago. If they had seen that hideous display, they probably would have said, "That woman is definitely NOT a Christian!" Actions speak louder than words, right? Why did it take me so long to put two and two together? If I have Jesus in my heart and accept Him as my Lord and Savior, then my actions need to match. Just as Galatians 5:25 says, "If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." I know that the Lord is not leading me to bother my husband and frustrate my children, He specifically tells me NOT to do that in His Book. So why am I doing these horrible things? Because I am listening to MY leading, MY flesh, MY pride. I don't want to be ignored. I don't want to have more work to do. I don't want to constantly have to remind someone to do something. But that is my calling. God gave me this husband, these children. I am the specific wife meant for my husband. And I am the exact mother God meant for my precious babies. So I need to stop focusing on the negative things they do, and start focusing on how I can work with their imperfections (because lets face it, we all have imperfections, especially me!) I need to follow Jesus' leading and be "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."(James 1:19). That right there would pretty much solve ALL my problems. And if that doesn't solve a problem, I have my handy dandy Instruction Manual for Life (aka God's Word) to answer any of my questions. So although this is between me and the Lord, I want to be identified by my fruit in a way that glorifies the Lord, not makes me look like a hypocrite Christian. I will be meditating on Matthew 7:20 and James 1:19 today, hopefully they spoke to you as well.
Have a blessed day :-)
*P.S.- I know I capitalized A LOT of words in this, I am just so on FIRE about this!!!