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The Fruits of the Spirit are very important qualities to have and develop in our lives of faith. They help us become more like God – our Creator – as we grow in our faith and understanding, and change ourselves to live according to the Word. We’ve looked at the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. Now let’s take a look at the remaining fruits and try to put these into action.
Goodness
When I think about “goodness”, this verse from Psalms 23 comes to mind:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.Psalms 23:6
As we keep God’s commands, we are blessed. God wants to give good things to His children, and the greatest gift He gives us eternal life in heaven. That goodness comes from love. The goodness that we, as Christians, should show others has to be elevated from the general goodness of the world. We can be good people without religion, and plenty of people are. So what separates us from them? It’s the hope of salvation and eternal life, and knowing God and Jesus always keep their promises. Romans 12:9 reminds us that our love should be genuine. When we genuinely love others, we will naturally want to be good to them. We should be good to others not out of selfishness or personal gain, but in the hopes that they may come to know Christ and God. We try to bless others when they persecute us, to pray for them, and to love them as Christ Jesus has loved us.
Paul reminds us of how important it is to keep going, to do good to others even when it may seem hard. In Galatians 6, he says,
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10
Faithfulness
This is one of the most important things in our life of faith. God wants His people to be faithful to Him in all they do. In Exodus 19:5-6, God made a covenant (promise) with the Israelites, His chosen people at that time. He said, “If you fully obey my commands, then you will be a holy nation”. That first word, “if”, is key. God loves and blesses those who keep His commands. Unfortunately, from the time of Adam in Genesis, God’s people kept breaking God’s commands. How do you think God feels when His people don’t keep His words? Or when they worship other gods?
If you’ve ever been in a relationship before, then you understand how important it is for partners to be faithful to each other. How would you feel if your partner was unfaithful? If you’ve experienced that kind of betrayal before, then you know how much it hurts. In Genesis 6:6 it says God was grieved. God’s heart was broken because His people were unfaithful to Him. Jesus said if we truly love him then we would keep his commandments (John 14:23). Then, as believers in Jesus and God, should we be like the people of the past who broke God’s commands? No, let us learn from their mistakes and instead remain faithful to God and keep His words.
Gentleness
Gentleness can be difficult to master, much like loving others. Yet, we are called to be like Christ in all we do. Paul says to “put on Christ” in Romans as well as in Colossians. This means we need to look to the example of how Jesus lived and treated others.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:14
When Jesus spoke to those who came to him, even to his enemies, he was gentle (sometimes). When he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, and Peter cut off a guard’s ear, Jesus healed the man and acted in a gentle manner. He bore our sins on the cross and still was gentle towards his accusers. How do you think we should act, then, when people are harsh to us? In all things, we should be gentle to those around us. And when people we wish to evangelize or discuss the word with, we should not be forceful or arrogant. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul reminds us of how we ought to be.
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
2 Timothy 2:24-25
As we live our lives of faith, we should try to develop this fruit within us and practice it – especially when it seems hard or difficult.
Self-Control
This is perhaps the hardest fruit to develop. I know for myself, it’s something I haven’t mastered yet. I’m working on it, but it’s difficult since my sinful nature is working against my desire to be obedient to God’s word. I’m sure it’s difficult for you, too. In Proverbs 25, it mentions how damaging a lack of self-control is.
A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.Proverbs 25:28
“Like a city broken into”. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, it says we are God’s temple. Since that’s the case, we need to take good care of ourselves – spiritually and physically. Numerous times in the New Testament, in the gospels and epistles, we are told to not be like those who follow their worldly desires. Instead, we are to obey God’s teachings since He wants to dwell in us. We are told to overcome our worldly desires, the false teachings, the things that take us away from the Word. If we lack self-control, will we be able to overcome all those things?
Jesus showed us the perfect example of self-control when he was beaten and whipped and nailed to the cross. I wouldn’t have been able to remain silent or just take the beatings if they happened to me. In Acts we read how the disciples and apostles were also whipped, beaten, and imprisoned for the gospel as they preached. They, too, did not fight back but remained self-controlled. Apostle Peter tells us to supplement our faith with similar qualities.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
1 Peter 1:5-6
Let us reflect on these words and try to put them into practice.
Living by the Spirit
Carrying out a life of faith according to God’s will is not easy. It takes all these qualities, the fruits of the Spirit, to help us make it until the day when God’s kingdom is fulfilled on the earth as promised in Revelation 21. We cannot develop these on our own, but we must pray to God for help and wisdom. When a plant grows and matures, it bears fruit. As we live according to the Word, we will bear these fruits. We are supposed to grow to maturity in the faith, and by doing so, fruits will come – but that’s if we remain in the Word. Jesus said in John 15,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
If we leave Jesus’s side, if we leave God’s word, then we cannot bear fruit, and we cannot enter heaven. That’s something we should not do. This passage in Galatians 5 ends with these words:
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”Galatians 5:24-25
So, let us keep in-step with the Spirit of God through obedience and love. I will do my best to keep working on myself to develop these fruits, and I pray you will also do the same.
Written by Kenny
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