Fruit: SELF-CONTROL
Self-control is not allowing the self to control us, but the opposite: having control over the self. This is not a popular concept today because we believe that the self is ultimate. The Bible tells us that the self is sinful and needs to be controlled. This fruit of the Spirit helps us to overcome […]
Fruit: GENTLENESS
As we get to the end of this list of the fruits of the Spirit, we encounter one that seems out of place. Not that gentleness seems bad, it just doesn’t seem that important. It is hard to imagine that God cares how gentle we are, but He does. He wants His people to reflect […]
Fruit: FAITHFULNESS
The Bible calls us to have a strong conviction of the things not seen. This is an encouragement to use what we know about God to help us to trust in Him in the places where we do not have answers. Living this out faithfully over time allows God to work out His redemptive plan […]
Fruit: GOODNESS
God calls us to pursue holiness, to be people of goodness and virtue. This imperative is given to shape us into people who display His character and work to bear good fruit – which benefits us and those around us. His good is good for the world.
Fruit: KINDNESS
The fruit of kindness is about more than being nice. It is about overcoming our sinful justification to hate some people, while choosing to be kind to those who give us something return. Kindness is more than just a set of politically correct ways to not offend, it is a complete change, where Jesus commands […]
Fruit: PATIENCE
We should all be more patient. But how do we develop that? The answer that we get from James 5 is that patience comes from attaching ourselves to the eternal purposes of God in both mercy and justice.
Fruit: PEACE
Peace is a reality that is given to us by God; we have received peace with God. With this, we are invited into the ministry of peacemaking – both in inviting others to God, through Christ, and breaking down the walls of hostility in a practical way.
Fruit: JOY
As Christians, we should be a joyful people. This joy comes, not because all of our situations bring us happiness, but from a deep sense of knowing God’s plan for joy. Our joy comes from knowing that all things work together for good, even when we can’t make sense of it in the moment.
Fruit: LOVE
As we begin our walk through the Fruit of the Spirit, we begin with the first and greatest (and I can say that love is the greatest because Jesus did). In one way, love is its own topic, but in another way, it is the fruit that all of the other fruits exist to accomplish. […]
What are spiritual fruits?
As we begin our series on the fruit of the Spirit, we need to get a handle on what this fruit is and what they are for. Before we dig in one each specifically, we take a week to build a picture of what God is doing in giving us this list of fruit to […]