Patience is a Virtue

 Fourth is Patience

The King James Version of the Bible lists the fourth fruit as “longsuffering.” According to the dictionary, “longsuffering” means patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties. We could go further and say that it means resisting anger and showing patience when dealing with people!! God was surely (and still is) “longsuffering” when it comes to us.

 

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

 

Ephesians 4:1-2 “…walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love “

 

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.”

 

1Thessalonians 5:14 “…be patient with all.”

 

Patience Involves Perseverance.

Perseverance is defined as steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

 

  Romans chapter five begins by telling us that we have peace with God and we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Then Paul writes,

Romans 5: 3-5 “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Glory in tribulations? Who likes trouble? Yet this is what the Bible says. Trouble teaches us how to keep moving forward in spite of the difficulty or delay in achieving success. This steadfastness produces character and character produces hope.

The definition of hope is “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” Another definition is “a person or thing in which expectations are centered.” This definition applies to us, believers in the salvation given by the finished work of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the person in which are expectations are centered. He expressed this before He went to the cross.

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 

 

 

Patience involves waiting.

Patience is not apathy. It is waiting with the confident expectation of good. The Bible says that all the promises of God in Christ are Yes, and in Christ, Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

 

Job, who had been through more than any one person should be able to take, even though his friends said he must have sinned, answered that after everything, he would still wait.

 

Job 14:14 “…All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.”

 

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

David, in the Psalm 37 begins the Psalm telling us not to fret because of evildoers nor to be envious of those who appear to prosper while they’re doing wrong.

Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…”

 

 Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

 

Luke 21:19 “By your patience possess your souls.”

 

James 1:2-3 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

 

James 5:7 says, “…See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it…”

 

1Thessalonians 5:14 “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

 

I have such a hard time with patience. I know that God is “completing the good work He started in me and will keep completing it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6). We have to have patience while God works out our trials and we have to be patient while God transforms us into the image of His Son. This work God started is an ongoing work. He started it and He’s fine-tuning it.  Patience is standing – not standing still- but standing in agreement with what God says He will perform. The Bible says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and that we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing according to Ephesians 1:3.

 One way to cultivate patience is to constantly recall the way God has moved on our behalf in the past. Jeremiah did this in the book of Lamentations. His people were in the midst of destruction and captivity and Jeremiah rightly “laments” his grief.

Lamentations 3: 17 “You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.” Yet by the time we get to verse 21, we have Jeremiah “remembering” his source of hope.

Lamentations 3: 21-26 “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.”

 

Patience is a Virtue?

This phrase is supposedly taken from an epic poem from the fifth century. Whether or not the poem itself is based on any Biblical principle isn’t clear. What is clear is that when the woman with the issue of blood “snuck up on Jesus and touched the hem of his garment,” He responded, “Some virtue has gone out of me.” Now the word virtue is defined as “high moral standards.” For Jesus to say some of his “high moral standard” has gone out of him is to say that part of His goodness was extended to this woman because of her faith. 

Mark 5:30 “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”

Interestingly enough, the New King James Version says, “some power had gone out of Him.” So now we can say that patience is goodness and patience is power.

 

Having Patience leads to peace with people

Galatians 5:22 begins with “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Love is listed first in the attributes of living a life influenced by the Holy Spirit. Love can be thought of as number one on the list or love can be thought of “the fruit” itself, with the rest just being evidences of love. We see that 1 Corinthians 13 is often called “the love chapter.” And we see in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that “love suffers long and is kind.” As we relate to others and interact with them, we have to extend patience. Everyone is not going to think what we think or agree with what we say. Everyone is not going to act the way we think they should act or do the things we think they should do. We have to respect people enough to not jump in with our opinions while they’re talking. Even if we believe that we are right, we have to have the patience to hear people out and to allow them to live the way they see fit. Even when we’re trying to tell them about God’s goodness, we have to be sure that we are speaking in love, not in our own “rightness.” A lack of patience and a lack of tolerance for the opinions of others lead people to tune out any message of the gospel. God is certainly patient with us, let’s be patient with everyone.

 

 

Peace Within and Peace With Others

           Peace With People

Mark 9:50 “…have peace with one another.”
Romans 12:18 ^“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men”
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all people…”

In order to have peace with people, we must revisit the “Love Chapter” which is 1 Corinthians 13, specifically verses 4-7:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up. Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Here is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 from the Message translation:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Peace with people requires love. We must love God, love people, and love ourselves. We demonstrate this love by taking the form of a servant rather than a master.
(See Mark 9:35 “…If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”) We

humble ourselves, not forcing our opinions on others, nor despising the other’s opinions. Peace demands that we leave vengeance to God, who will right all wrongs in His time.

Romans 12:19 “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
It’s not our job to “set the record straight” or fight for what we think rightfully belongs to us. Unfortunately, the church is full of examples of the absence of peace. It’s not our job to judge the world; we’d do better to make sure that we as individuals are walking in a way that reflects the Holy Spirit. It is absolutely necessary that we forgive when we feel that we’ve been wronged. It is absolutely necessary that we refuse to find a scapegoat when things don’t go our way. There are things in life that aren’t going to go our way. Sometimes it’s our own fault and sometimes it is someone else’s fault. But in that case, we have to forgive them (and forgive ourselves) and move on.


The passage in Galatians 5 that describe the fruit of the spirit, begins with what is not of the spirit but of the “flesh” Note that although these verses speak of many things including sexual immorality and even murder, the emphasis is on the fact that these “works of the flesh” are the polar opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit listed in verses 22 and 23. This list in verses 19-21 includes hatred, contentions outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and dissentions. Galatians 5 concludes with

“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

We’re to pursue peace, seek it, look for it, and find a way to maintain inner contentment and peace with other people. Obviously, if I’ve been working on controlling my temper, forgiving others of real or perceived injustices, refusing to hold a grudge, I can accomplish a certain amount of peace in my relationships with others. Romans 12:18 says “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

This verse indicates that there are times when it’s not possible and there are times that the situation doesn’t depend on just my own peaceful state. As good as the word “peace” sounds, it could end up being unattained, or perhaps attained in an unpeaceful way. When we see someone being taken advantage of, are we to ignore it just for the sake of peace? Peace is a fruit of the Spirit listed with love and goodness. Sometimes we actually have to work to ensure goodness for others. There’s a slogan often used in civil protests that says, “No justice, No peace.” There is no peace for a given society if portions of the society fell their rights are trampled upon. Remember what God said to His people:

Isaiah 58:6-7:

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?       
The people were so proud of themselves, bragging that they have observed their “fasts.”They followed a religious “practice” of abstaining from food for a period of time. God responded that the kind of “fast” He wants is for us to free those that are unjustly imprisoned, provide the poor with food, clothing housing and opportunities. In other words, He wants us to share. He wants us to treat people right. He gave us His peace when He gave us His own Son. We can spread His peace to others when we act in true justice.
    

Peace of God and Peace With God

Peace: an absence of hostilities, harmonious relations, inner contentment, serenity

 This present world is filled with hostilities and harmonious relations seem to only exist in an idealistic imagination of someone who’s never watched the news. There is a huge misunderstanding about peace and God’s kingdom of peace. God’s present “kingdom of peace” is inside of us as individuals. Anyone who’s ever heard of Christmas knows the verse Luke 2:14 that says, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” So if that was over 2,000 years ago, where is the peace? Unfortunately this verse has been misstated. Modern translations render this verse as  “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” All those who have accepted the gift of faith are qualified to be included in those with whom God is pleased.

Luke 2:14 in The Message:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

 Luke 2:14 in the New International Version:

 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
 and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

Right now, God’s peace is inside of us as individuals. There will, however, be a time when this kingdom of peace will be an actual kingdom spoken of in Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His Shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  This kingdom of peace, when “the government will be upon His shoulder,” doesn’t occur until after the Second Coming of the Messiah, however in this time, right now we can have the peace of God in our individual lives.
That being said, however, doesn’t mean that the individual who has accepted the peace of God through faith in the finished work at the cross is not concerned with the state of other human beings. In gratitude to God, as a response to His great love for as individuals, we are inspired to lift up others. The peace of God in our lives fills us with compassion to help those in need. It also fills us with the desire to help remediate the damage we’ve done to our planet. Unfortunately, it seems that what the world sees “Christians” doing is just going to church. We do see individuals risking their own safety and comfort and going out into the world feeding the hungry, digging wells, providing medical services and promoting justice. True peace for the individual causes him to want peace for others. Those of us who haven’t yet found our own inspiration as to how we will spread the peace of God, are trusting that He Himself will open our eyes to our own gift for spreading His peace.

Peace Began with God

1 Corinthians 14:33 ^“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”

Philippians 4:9 “…the God of peace will be with you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ^“ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely…”

All throughout the bible we read, “the God of Peace, the Prince of Peace, the author of peace, which lets us know peace is an attribute of God Himself. In fact, every time Jesus greeted His disciples (especially after His resurrection,) He greeted them with the word “peace.” The Hebrew word “Shalom” which is usually translated as peace, actually means “wholeness.” It includes good health, provision, and total well-being.  The implication here is that when Jesus greeted His disciples with the word “peace” He greeted them with more than just, “have an absence of hostilities” or “have inner contentment.” Instead, His greeting included, “Don’t be afraid,” “Be well,” Be prosperous,” and “have inner contentment.” Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is our dependency of God to work it all out and protect us in spite of trouble.

 

God Provided a Way for us to Have peace with Him

1 John 4:18-19  ^“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:10 “ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

God gave us the opportunity to have peace with Him, to not be afraid of his wrath or punishment. Because He loves us with a perfect love, we have no need to fear. God punished our sins in the body of His own son. God demonstrated His great love for us by redeeming us from the penalty of sin and by declaring us righteous in His sight. If this sounds really simplistic, we must remember that a steep price was paid for this peace. Because we so often we hear the phrase, “Jesus died for our sins,” we’re almost tempted to treat this as a small thing. Jesus suffered public mocking and inhumane suffering even before He actually went to the cross. The prophet Isaiah told us what would happen to Him 700 years before the actual event. Isaiah 53:5-6  says “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

 

The book of Matthew describes the actual events leading up to the crucifixion itself. Matthew 26:37 says that even before His arrest, in the garden of Gethsemane, “He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Luke 22:44 says “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  Note how Jesus was first taken to the high priest, where he was abused by the temple guards there and then taken to the Roman governor, where he was mocked and beaten by the Roman guards in their private garrison, in addition to the public scourging:

Matthew 27:26-31 “Then they spat in His face and beat Him and other struck Him with the palms of their hands. (This describes His treatment at the hands of the temple guards, the servants of the religious leaders. Later, after Jesus had been turned over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who repeatedly said he found no fault with Jesus, still had Jesus scourged. The Roman scourge was a short whip of three straps with scraps of metal knotted in. This instrument would tear off the person’s flesh with each lash and there would be excessive bleeding.)  27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium… 28. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand, And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30. Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   

 

 

Having His Inner Peace

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

Philippians 4:7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Inner Peace Gives us courage In addition to no longer having to fear of punishment for sin, inner peace includes freedom from fear of people or circumstances. Peace also includes contentment, and freedom from anxiety. This world is so full of people and circumstances that will cause us to live in constant fear. There’s the risk of getting killed by terrorists, the risk of contacting a fatal disease, the risk of losing our income, and the risk of losing those we love. In order to have relief from these fears, we have to accept the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace. We have to constantly remind ourselves that we belong to God. He’s the Creator of this entire universe and He loves us unconditionally. We also have to remember the promises in His word:

Psalm 91:5-7 “⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.”

Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” This is reiterated in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:6 “So we can boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 121:7-8 ^7 “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.

Inner Peace Gives us Contentment

One of the things that rob us of peace is the idea that we have to have more things. God did promise us in Matthew 6:33 to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added unto us.” We know that “things” in this particular context, is referring to clothing, shelter, and food, since the previous verses in that chapter deal with how God feeds the birds of the air and how He clothes the grass with beautiful flowers.

^{Matthew 6:25} “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I have to admit that I have trouble with this idea of wanting. All day long, my thoughts play an ongoing recording of “I want new clothes, I want a new phone, I want a tablet, I want to update the bathroom. I want a Coach bag. And of course, I want a new car.” Every time that recording starts to play, I have to remind myself that “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The recording stops for that moment and then later it comes back. We live in a society that tells us that we have to have more. The commercials on television make us think that everyone has these particular things but us. If we’re walking in the fruit of the Spirit, we’re not supposed to give in to the idea that we need more and more things in order to be fulfilled. The Bible speaks to us about having contentment:

Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

^{Hebrews 13:5 “}Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

^{1 Timothy6:6 “}Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:10 “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” is a verse that has been misconstrued and misquoted over many years. We need money to buy goods and services and we need money in order to give to the poor. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 10:19, Solomon said that “money answers everything.” What Paul wrote to Timothy about money has to do with greed. He points out that people’s “love of money” has caused them to basically ruin their own lives. Thinking about money all the time is truly a “peace destroyer.” The word “covetousness” is defined as inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy. Jesus, in Mark 7: 22 listed covetousness as one of the things that defile people alongside things like thefts, deceit, lewdness, and blasphemy.  The Bible tells us that we are supposed to be fed, sheltered, clothed, and have money to donate to charities and to churches. However, we are not to love money and we’re certainly not to trade our peace for money. The Bible says that God’s grace (His unmerited favor towards us) will cause us to receive all we need and to have enough left over to help others.

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”



The Bible also tells us that if we have a need, we’re to ask God through prayer, being sure to give thanks, and that we will receive peace, His peace which passes all

understanding. Is the answer to our request “peacefulness while we wait” or is the answer God’s peace itself?

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing God our love

   Showing God our love

Part of the definition of love involves caring about the well-being of another. We know that God’s well-being is already established, so a sensible interpretation of caring about God’s well-being is caring about pleasing Him. We know that God experiences pleasure. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that He “rejoices over us with singing.” One of the obvious ways we show our love to God is by praising Him. Hebrews 13:15 says, “…let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

 We must also accept His great love for us, which includes accepting and valuing ourselves.

If we ever question our own self-worth, we have to remember that according to Genesis 1: 26, “God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Further, He sent His own Son to redeem us from the condemnation which was the result of man’s disobedience. Romans 5:8 tells us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And according to Ephesians 1:6 “He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Eugene H. Peterson expressed this concept so beautifully in The Message:

Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

We must rely on Him, the way a child relies on her parent. Jesus said that unless we became like little children we would not enter His kingdom. We have to humble ourselves before Him, seeking His will above our own.

There’s a verse in Psalm 34 that says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I always thought this meant that if I delighted in Him, He would give me whatever I wanted. However, I just learned that the desires He’ll give me are the desires He wants for me. In other words, He’ll change my mind about what I thought I wanted. His desire according to Matthew 6:33 is that I “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added to me.”

Another way we show our love to God is by being grateful.

We show Him our love by trusting Him, believing what He said in His word and believing in His good plans that He has for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Keeping God’s Commandments as proof of our love for Him

I’ve heard many ministers say that the way we show our love to God is by keeping His commandments. Jesus said to His disciples many times “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keep them, it is he who loves Me…”

John 14:23 “…if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…”

John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love…”

John 15:12 “This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

 It’s important to remember what the most important commandment was the one given by Jesus before He went to the cross: love one another! The most important way we show God our love is by obeying His command that we love one another. In order to have and abide in the fruit of the Spirit is to first have the Holy Spirit inside. If we’re ruled by God’s Spirit, we will easily overcome the temptations to lie, cheat, steal, engage in idolatry, disobey our parents, etc. Remember when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, they were also given an out: they could present animals to the priest for sacrifice once a year to be cleansed from sin. Thank God that when Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sin, was offered up, our sins are forever forgiven by the blood that He shed. Once accepting Christ into our hearts and being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are redeemed from the penalty of sin. The Bible says that the commandment to love each other is the fulfillment of all the earlier commandments.

Romans 13:9 “⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

How do we love God?

There is a story in Luke 7, verses 36-50 that tell how Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee to eat. This incident is also mentioned in Matthew 26: 6-13 and Mark 14: 3-9.

The version in the gospel of Luke is longer and more detailed. Jesus had been invited to the home of a Pharisee called “Simon the leper.” While there, a woman expressly stated to be a sinner, began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Afterwards, she began to anoint His feet with fragrant oil from an alabaster box. The Pharisee host inwardly criticized this display, thinking to himself, “If this man, Jesus, was really a prophet, He would know this woman touching Him was a sinner.” Jesus, knowing the Pharisee’s thoughts, told him a parable:

Luke 7:41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii (one hundred weeks worth of wages), and the other fifty (ten weeks worth of wages). 42. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43. Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He (Jesus) said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 47. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

It appears that the act of showing love is what allowed this woman’s sins to be forgiven. She never confessed anything, she never made any promises. She showed her love and her sins were forgiven. Sometimes when we read the command throughout the Bible that we are to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, it almost seems like such a harsh command: Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus actually calls this the greatest commandment in exchange with a lawyer in Matthew 22.

Matthew 22: 35 Then one of them, (one of the Pharisees), a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37. Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  See Mark 12:28-31 and Luke 10:25-28 for their accounts of this exchange.

This command isn’t harsh at all when you consider that God has provided the way for us to love Him: It is to receive the great love He has for us!

 1 John 4:10 tells us that “ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Verse 19 in that same chapter says, “We love God because He first loved us.” Max Lucado wrote in (in Today’s Word, March 14, 2014), “The love of God is born within Him, not from what we find in us.”

Yet, I want to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with my entire mind both in response to His great love for me and because of who He is. He is the sovereign creator of the universe. He holds the planets, the galaxies, and the seasons. He created man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into us.  How do I separate loving God for what He does from loving God for who He is? When I list who God is to me, the list is almost indistinguishable from what God does for me. He is my redeemer, my Father, my healer, my savior, my friend, my provider, and my protector. Because God is high above us, we can’t show Him love the way we would show love to a friend or family member, say by buying them a gift or doing them a favor. We can only express our love through praise and worship and submit ourselves to Him so that we can receive more of His attributes. Going back to the woman with the alabaster box in Luke 7, she showed her love and her sins were forgiven. Conversely, her sins were forgiven because she showed love. Her tears showed her genuine repentance and adoration. Her anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume was her praise and adoration.

The Fruit of the Spirit revised May 16, 2014

The Fruit of the Spirit revised May 16, 2014

 I am not a minister and I’ve never been to seminary, but I’ve been very curious about the fruit of the Spirit, and decided to share what I’ve learned from the Bible about exactly what the phrase, “the fruit of the Spirit,” means.

 For the longest time I thought the “fruit” were rewards. For example, Jesus stated at the end of the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13:23: “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Did that mean some received one hundred blessings, thirty thousand dollars? A better house? Better health? A longer life? Better relationships?

 “Later, I thought that I was “bearing fruit” when friends accepted my invitation to come to church. I was really excited and happy about that, actually thinking, “Yeah, yeah, I’m bearing fruit!” When those people came a couple of times and didn’t come back, I was deflated and realized that couldn’t mean what the “fruit of the Spirit was all about.

I had read Galatians 5:22-23 many times but I never realized that the “fruit” were actually described in detail:

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Against such there is no law. The original King James Version says, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance.’ Having the attributes of the Spirit spelled out in this way, I see that both of my interpretations: one of rewards, the other of trying to bring people into the church was both self-centered. Amazingly, however, and this is due to the goodness and generosity of God, the real fruit of the Spirit can actually lead to actual life rewards and really influence  people to come into the fellowship of faith. After all, Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

One of the definitions of fruit is “anything produced or accruing; product, result, or effect; return or profit”

“The Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of God, and the presence of God in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit, then, is the presence of God in our lives that produces certain characteristics or attributes. The Spirit of God is the promise given by Jesus before He went to the cross. The Spirit gives power and reveals truth. He is the Helper and the Comforter and He helps us to “remember” what Jesus taught while on earth.

 Jesus said, in John 14:16-17, “I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – 17. the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you.”

In John 15:26, Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, who I will send to you from the Father, He will testify of Me.”  He continued in John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and tell.”

The very phrase in Galatians 5:22 that begins, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” seems to be grammatically incorrect. It seems that it should say, “the fruits (being plural), however, the very first “fruit” is “love.” All the other attributes stem from and are contained in the word “love.” Therefore the sentence could stop with “the fruit of the Spirit is love.”

I now think that the fruit of the Spirit are actually attributes of God Himself that He deposits into us. After all, He created us in His own image and likeness according to Genesis 1:26-27. The very breath we breathe came from Him. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The circumstances in our lives sometimes cause us to forget that we were created in His image and likeness and that we have His sacred breath in our lives. But God, knowing that we would need a reminder, in fact a guarantee, sent us His Son.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

 When we accept God’s great gift of salvation, we are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is restored in us, the way God first intended. However, just as we don’t feel that we’ve been converted overnight when we receive Christ, (when in fact we are converted,) we don’t always immediately feel or appear as though we’ve received the attributes of the Spirit until we’ve been on our journey for a while. Usually, we look back and think, “Wow I remember when I used to get angry so easily and now I don’t. I’ve really changed.” In spite of being able to look back over our lives and see our progress, sometimes we’re still shocked when we find out that we’re still holding on to some of our old ways of being easily offended, quick to lash out in anger, quick to find fault, and quick to blame other people for our problems. At those times, we think, "Uh oh, I haven't really changed at all." This is a mistake. What we ought to think is, "I haven't fully changed yet." In Philippians 1:6, God promised to continue the good work He started in us. Of course, when we “catch” ourselves thinking that ungenerous thought, we’re now equipped to see that it’s wrong and to at least make the effort to refrain from such thinking.

Having the results of the Spirit in our lives means that we have these inner-qualities:  love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance and also that we act with these qualities as we relate to each other.  The results then, aren’t just attributes, but they are also actions. The results of the Spirit effect how we feel about each other, how we talk to each other, how we show respect for each other, and how we believe in the goodness of each other. These results not only improve how we see each other and treat each other but also how we see God and how we see ourselves. Do we see God as good? Do we see Him as gentle? Do we see ourselves as peaceful?

God is the originator of the qualities described in the fruit of the Spirit:

Love:  Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Joy:  Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD your God in you midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Peace:  1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints”

Longsuffering:  Exodus 34:6 “…The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth”

Gentleness:  Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Goodness:  Psalm 145:9 “The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”

Faith:  Hebrews 12:2: Faith “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Meekness:  Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.”

Temperance:  Exodus 32:14 “So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”

The fruit of the Spirit are the qualities of God. As we cultivate God's presence in our lives, we actually take on His qualities. People begin to notice our peaceful natures and our inclinations to see things from the other's point of view. People notice that we're not complaining all the time and looking at people's faults. Some people say we're pleasant company. Of course, people who love to engage in vicious gossip and character assassination will find us to be quite boring.

The fruit of the Spirit are also inter-relational. Where there is love, joy, and peace, there is longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and temperance. Note the above scriptures and the ones below that show this inter-relation.

            Colossians 3: 12-15: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13. bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do 14. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

 

The fruit of the Spirit is different from the gifts of the Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. These gifts are not given to all believers, they are specific gifts to individuals. However the fruit of the Spirit is given to all of us.  In 1 Corinthians 13:8 Paul wrote that the gifts will pass away, but love remains. Note that both faith and love are included in both the fruit and the gifts. The fruit of the Spirit is given to us by the presence of God Himself. These gifts fine-tune us, taking us out of our selfish ways and helping us to truly love God, ourselves, and others.