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Fruit Of The Spirit: Self-Control

Self control word

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Today I will be looking at the last fruit of the Spirit–self-control. Thank you, if you have been following this little bible study on the fruit of the Spirit. If you have not been following and just joined, you can find the other studies here: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.

This final fruit of the Spirit is the culmination of all of the rest. Without the rest of the fruits, one cannot have this last one. It is one that many people do not really want to talk about or think that they already have it, though most people struggle in this area. Self-control is being able to control one’s own thoughts and actions. It is taking responsibility for yourself.

Self-control is often looked at in the areas of exercising and dieting. Very few people exercise good self-control in these areas and will admit it. However, self-control needs to be exercised in many other areas of life.

Hole in wall

Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. Proverbs 25:28

Solomon points out the value of self-control, or rather the destruction of the lack of self-control. In his time cities had a wall surrounding the city to protect it from the enemy. If there was a hole in the wall, their protection was gone. The wall was then worthless and the city could be overrun.

In the same way, a person who does not have self-control in his life has a hole broken through. Not having self-control allows the enemy to enter into your life. It gives the devil a foothold into your life, causing you to breakdown and choose to sin, rather than flee the sin.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, James 1:19

One are that many people lack self-control in is with their speaking and listening. Many are slow to listen and very quick to get angry. They are quick to strike back with words, cursing someone, when something does not go their way, rather than trying to understand and listen.

Angry person

In order to follow what James is telling us to do, we must have self-control. You have to make a choice to listen. You have to make a choice to be slow to speak and not become angry so quickly. This takes practice over time, because it goes against the human nature.

Immediately many people will rise up now and say that they cannot do this. It is in their nature to sin, that they have no self-control. This is true, if they are relying upon their own strength and abilities. Man does not have any self-control in himself. However, it does not have to stay that way.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, Titus 2:11-12

Titus tells us that God’s grace teaches us to say ‘No’ to sin and to live a godly, upright life that is self-controlled. We have the perfect teacher–God’s Holy Spirit.

Blocking hand

However, just like children in school, we often do not want to learn. Some will say that they cannot do it, it is not in their nature or some other excuse. This is true if you say that, but it does not have to remain true. You can change.

Remember that in Christ you are a new creation, a new person. You have the ability to say ‘No’ to sin and run away from all temptation. However, to do this, you must be in control of yourself. You have to conscientiously choose to not sin or walk into sin.

In your own strength and power this is difficult, even impossible to do. You cannot live a self-controlled, sinless life without God’s help and power.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Another version says that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. God is there to give you all the strength you need to do what needs to be done. This is not just physically doing things, but also strength to do the not doing things, to turn away from sin.

Pushing a bolder

In yourself, you cannot stay away from sin, but in Christ you have that ability. There is no reason for you to continue in sin. Christ has made you a new creation. All you have to do is live as the new creation, live as Jesus lived. Every time temptation pops its head up to cause you to sin, turn to God for strength and a way out of that temptation. Refuse to sin. Allow His Holy Spirit to guide you in the right path.

But all of this is a choice you have to make. It does not come automatically. It is not built into you. You have to be self-controlled. The great news is that with God’s Holy Spirit you can have that self-control to make the right choices every time.

Two choices

Give your life over to God and allow Him to be in control. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you live a godly life here on this earth. As you are filled with His Holy Spirit, you will have to bear some fruit.

God does not want you to fail, so He has given you everything you need to be successful in walking a holy, righteous, sinless life. You must now make the choice to accept it and live in it.

As you are filled with His Holy Spirit, you will show His love, which will lead to joy bringing about peace, which leads to forbearance/patience, bringing on kindness and goodness, which will make you faithful and gentle. Once all of these fruits are in place, you will have self-control to keep in them and in God’s will.

Be the man or woman God has called you to be in Christ Jesus. Do not conform to the ways of this world any longer and remain in sin.

This finishes looking at the fruit of the Spirit. Next week I will bring this study to a finish with an overview of all that we have studied and what it means to you as a believer. Please feel free to comment and/or share this post with anyone you think that could use it.

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Fruit Of The Spirit: Gentleness

Gentleness word

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Thank you for continuing with me in this study at looking at the fruit of the Spirit. If you just joined in this study and have not seen the previous posts you can find theme here: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.

Today I will be looking at the fruit of gentleness, what it is and what it looks like in the life of a believer.

The word ‘gentleness’ was originally translated as meekness in the KJV bible. It is a word that is talking about being mild, not harsh.

Puppy walking

Many in the world see gentleness as a type of weakness. It is often accepted that a woman may be gentle, but it is often discouraged in men. Some women, with the feminist movement, will also look down upon being gentle. With that in mind, very few people are actually gentle.

Throughout the bible there are various verses that give good guidelines as to what gentleness looks like in a person. I will be looking at some of these verses.

The best spot to begin is with God and seeing how He is gentle.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11

The world loves to drive and push people. They want to show that they have absolute control. Some believers lead in a harsh demanding sort of way, just as the world tends to lead. They are demanding and forceful, rather than gentle and kind as God is.

God does not have to prove He has control, He just has it. He uses His immense power under control and with gentleness.

Holding sheep

People are just like sheep. They need to be treated gently. Leading is to be done with control, but in gentleness, carefully guiding people or others. This type of leading can only be done when done out of love and care for others, being filled and led by His Holy Spirit.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

Harsh words are heard all the time. Watch any political campaign and all you will often hear is slamming other people with harsh words. Crushing the opponent is the goal of many candidates.

Sadly this can also be seen in the church. One believer crushes another with harsh words or they crush non-believers with hateful harsh words. They will often not speak the whole truth that God has given them, but only a portion of what God says.

Choose your words

There will be times when someone is harsh with you. One will say things or doing things that are harsh. Do not respond in the same way. Instead of using harsh words, you  must be gentle towards others. Being gentle will cause another person to calm down faster. Harsh words only stirs up anger and a fighting spirit.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are being led by Him, you will be gentle in what you have to say towards others. Your words will not be harsh and condemning, but full of love and grace, building others up. These words will be gentle.

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15

People will want to know why you believe what you do. Why do you believe in a person who lived centuries ago? Why do you not do certain things and do other things? Why do you act the way you act?

Better than you

Answering these can be easy, but they can be done in a harsh way. Some will answer it in a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude, looking down upon the person asking the question. Others will answer in a way that is looking at the person as though it was a stupid question to ask.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit will cause you to answer with gentleness. You will not be rude and condescending about it.

Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,2 Timothy 2:25 

As a believer you will have some who oppose you. Watch the news, movies, tv shows, listen the radio, it is everywhere, believers have opponents. There are people who do not believe in God or believe in Jesus. They may not believe in any god or they may believe in a false god.

Some of these may oppose violently, while others may be calm and mild about their opposition, they just don’t agree.

Opposing teams

Many believers have harshly went up against unbelievers. They will quickly condemn them and show no compassion or love towards those who oppose. They want judgement.

However, as a believer, you are to be like God, gently speaking to them with the goal that they will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and repentance. You need to remember that at some point you were just like them without a saving knowledge of Jesus. You did not know the truth.

Fill your heart with God’s love and gentleness towards them. Seek to show them who God is and His great love for them. Hope for a change of heart and that they will follow Jesus.

Being filled with God’s Holy Spirit will change you. He will make you more like Jesus every day. The signs of those changes can be seen in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is a character change. Allow God to change you into the image of Jesus everyday.

Black and white butterfly

Change in the Holy Spirit begins with love, leading to joy, leading to peace, leading to forbearance, leading to kindness, leading to goodness, leading to faithfulness, which in turn leads to gentleness. Allow these changes to occur and be evident in your life. Allow the world to see all these fruits of the Spirit.

Again, thank you for continuing with me on this journey of looking in depth the fruit of the Spirit. Next week I will look at the last fruit, the fruit of self-control. Please be sure to return for this last fruit. Feel free to share this post with any of your friends who may need to see it.

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The Fruit Of The Spirit: Faithfulness

Faithfulness word

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Thank you for returning with me to this study on the fruit of the Spirit. I am sorry I had to miss a study last week due to busyness of things in life with my family.

We have already looked at the fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness and goodness. Today I want to look at faithfulness and what that looks like in the life of a believer.

Faithfulness is being true to one’s word in both word and action. It is being able to be trusted in every way.

In this fallen world, faithfulness is very difficult to find. People are faithful only as long as it is beneficial to them and they can see the benefits. As soon as the benefits can no longer be seen, people quit and change their mind, words and actions to go against what they were originally saying and doing.

Woman searching

Employers are no longer strongly faithful to their workers. It is only about making the business look good. Workers do not remain faithful to the employer. They only want to make the most money for the least mount of work.

Proverbs 20:6 Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find? 

Solomon brings up a very good point. People all over the world claim to have unfailing love, yet, that love often fails. The person is not faithful to their word. If you don’t believe it, look at marriages. How many people claim undying love at the wedding, in and out of the church, only to end in divorce and hate a few years later?

People are quick to change their minds and hearts towards someone or some task. They choose to step away, rather than stick it out and being faithful. Every excuse under the sun is given to be able to cancel former promises and vows. It is difficult to find a person who is truly faithful.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

Hebrews 10-23

The beginning example of faithfulness is found in God. From the first day of creation until this day God has proven Himself faithful. God has always done what He said He would do. God promised salvation to Adam when he was kicked out of the garden. Several thousand years later, God fulfilled that promise in Jesus.

Jesus was faithful to God and to His mission of saving people as He walked on this earth. He did not allow Himself to be deterred from the mission to die upon the cross to save all people.

As a believer and follow of Jesus, we are to be just like Him. This means we should be faithful in everything. God and others can trust that what we say we will do, we will do it. We will always act in love and care for others and God.

“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. Hebrews 3:5

Moses was one who is seen as being faithful to God. Even though he did slip up at times and make bad choices, he, as a whole, remained faithful to God. He led and taught the Israelites as God wanted them to be led.

Sharing the gospel

Our lives should have the same epithet that Moses had–that we are faithful to God. This means we are being His true witness of who Jesus is and what He has done and will do for every person. We are to do the work God has called us to do–be His witness.

Being faithful in being His witness means that we will be that witness every time we can in every situation. We will not back down from being His witness because we are faithful.

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2

As soon as you began to believe in and trust in Jesus for your salvation, you were given a trust. It was an investment in you that was to be built up and increased. You have a work to do.

It is easy to just hold on to salvation and not do anything with it, just as it can be easy to hoard money in order to count it as wealth. However, salvation is given to be also passed on.

Passing on something

Being faithful is not an option. We do not get to choose whether we are faithful or not, we must be faithful just as Jesus was faithful.

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!’ Matthew 25:23

Jesus gave a parable about faithfulness. Those who are faithful with what God has given them will be rewarded. Those who are not faithful with what God has given them will lose everything.

We have been given salvation and the gospel message. We have been given the duty to be His witness to everyone. Being faithful means that we will pass that message on to others and we will live as though we are saved.

Old faithful geyser

You can ask yourself if God would be able to say that you are a good a faithful servant. Being filled with His Holy Spirit, you will be able to answer yes to that question.

In our own strength, we will fail in being faithful. It is easy to be led astray and change who or what we are following or doing. The world is following their own desires at the moment, changing all the time, unfaithful to anything.

As a believer, you are to be faithful. Jesus has given you His Holy Spirit to give you what you need. As you walk by His Holy Spirit, being led by Him, you will be faithful to God and to others. You will always think, say and do the right thing. God and others will be able to trust that you will always do the right thing every time because you are faithful.

Going back to Galatians you can see how the fruit of the Spirit works in your life. It begins with love that brings about joy, leading to peace, leading to forbearance, which then causes you to be kind and full of goodness. With all of these things you will then be faithful to keep doing them and walking in those fruits of the Spirit.

Again thank you for continuing with me on this little look at the fruit of the Spirit. Next week I plan to look at the next fruit: gentleness. I hope to see you then.

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The Fruit Of The Spirit: Goodness

Goodness fruit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Thank you for continuing with me on this journey of looking at the fruit of the Spirit and how it applies to our lives. If you have missed any of the previous studies you may find them here: love, joy, peace, forbearance, and kindness.

Today I will be looking at the fruit of goodness. This is something that a lot of people may ask about…what is good? You may have asked yourself that at times. You may look at yourself and say you are not good and that there is nothing good in you. Yet, Paul tells us that one of the fruits of the Spirit is goodness.

So now the question is what is this ‘goodness’? The interesting thing about this term is that in the Greek the word here used is only used in the Bible. It cannot be found in any other Greek manuscript at all.

Strong’s concordance makes its usage as: intrinsic goodness, especially as a personal quality, with the stress on the kindly (rather than the righteous) side of goodness.

Goodness, then is doing the right thing towards other people at all times. It is how one is towards others, regardless of how the other person acts or reacts. It is the actions and words that one does and says to another person.

Psalm 100-5

The greatest example of goodness is found in God Himself. How is God good? Take a look at what He has done for you. You have sinned against Him, deserving only death and punishment. Yet, God does not strike you, but offers you forgiveness and life. He gives you good things, rather than bad.

As a believer you are to be like God–good. Your words and actions should show the goodness of God, rather than the hate and harshness of this fallen world.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Psalm 37:3 

David tells us that we are to trust God and do good. This shows that good is an action. In order to be able to really do good, you must trust God. Trust that He knows what is best. Trust that He is in control. Trust that as you do good, He will take care of you, regardless of what the other person is doing.

Hand with knife

There will come days when you have to treat a person with good, who is only giving you garbage and treating you badly. There will be some people who are difficult to love and be good to. This is where trusting God comes in.

When it is difficult to be good towards another person, take a moment to think about how God has been good towards you.

This leads to the next verse:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

No one can deny that there is a lot of evil in this world. Even the world will admit to this. The world will even admit that there are some things that are evil and bad–murder, rape, destruction. Yet, the world lives in that evil and will even promote it as good in a twisted sort of way.

Overcome evil

Being an individual in this world surrounded by millions who are not living for God, it can be easy for you to give in to that evil or repay back evil for evil. Some day someone, somewhere will do wrong towards you. Someone will treat you badly. You now have a choice as to how you will respond–with goodness or with evil.

Too often, even as Christians, we are quick to call down judgment or run to a judge for a judgment against someone, rather than turning the other cheek and loving the person. Turning the cheek and accepting being wronged is a sign of the goodness of God’s Spirit in you.

The world is quick to talk about a person being ‘good’ but there is a difference in being good for appearance sake and being good from the heart. When God’s Holy Spirit is inside of you, you will be living to be good because of Him being inside of you. You will not be trying to impress anyone or even God, it becomes who you are. Just as God is good and does not have to try to be good, we are to be the same.

Turn in road

Remember that to be a disciple of Jesus is to become like Him in every way. Jesus was good and so we are to be good. This can only be done by His Holy Spirit living in and through us.

Allow God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within you and change you. Starting with His love, then His joy, leading to His peace, to His forbearance, then to His kindness and on to His goodness. These are all the work of God’s Holy Spirit inside of you. It is the process of making you more into the image of Jesus everyday.

Please feel free to leave any comments, likes or to share this with anyone who can use it. Next week I will be continuing this study with looking at the fruit of the Spirit: faithfulness.

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The Fruit Of The Spirit: Kindness

Kindness word

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Over the last several weeks I have looked at the fruit of the Spirit–love, joy, peace and patience. Today I will be looking at kindness.

Kindness is the act of meeting the needs of someone else. It is not being harsh with other people.

The world is always looking for people to be kind. Everyone wants others to be kind to them, to not hurt them or do anything wrong to them. However, many people are not really that kind to others. Harsh words are said. Lying to others occurs. Cheating on others occurs. Violence and abuse is rampant. Hatred abounds.

The believer, the follower of Jesus is to be different.

Throughout the bible many people requested of others to be shown kindness. They did not want to be harmed in any way. There were some that did show kindness.

Naomi exclaimed that Boaz had shown great kindness when he provided food for Ruth.

Wheat field

In 2 Chronicles 2, David gave honor to the men from Jabesh Gilead for their kindness in burying Saul after he was killed. This honor was given when the kindness was shown to his enemy, who was out to kill him.

David later wants to show kindness to anyone who was left from the house of Saul, his enemy. He understood God’s kindness to him and wanted to pass that on to others. The interesting thing with David is that he is showing kindness to the family of his mortal enemy. As king, he had the right to destroy all of Saul’s family line, but he chose instead to show God’s kindness.

“In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8

Isaiah quotes God in talking about His kindness. God was angry with Israel for rebelling against Him and following false gods, but He chose instead to be kind to them with compassion, giving them what they really needed.

Person sitting by road

Years later Jesus gives a parable about the good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37. This man showed kindness to the enemy. He had the man given right to ignore the man on the side of the road, but chose to help him instead. He not only helped him in the short term of getting him to the hospital, but took care of all of his expenses.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

Paul points out the value of God’s kindness. It is because of His great kindness that one is led to Him to repent. God is not a God who just judges harshly and condemns everyone. God wants to save people. He wants a relationship with people. If He were not kind, then we would never have a chance to be saved. We would be afraid to repent, because we would fear harsh judgment.

Romans 2_4

Let a righteous man strike me–that is kindness; let him rebuke me–that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers. Psalm 141:5

Most people take offense at a rebuke, but David had a different thought on what a rebuke may look like. A rebuke is a harsh condemning of an action or word and is thus usually hated. He saw a rebuke from a righteous (believer) person as good. He saw a rebuke as an act of kindness. This rebuke would cause him to refocus back onto God and check himself in his actions and words. Not giving a rebuke would be to allow a person to continue to live in sin or in a wrong way. Kindness will point Him towards God and His word.

Colossians 3_12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

The final verse I want to look at is written by Paul in Colossians. He tells the Colossian church to clothe themselves with kindness. This should be a mark of the believer.

There are many more examples of the kindness of Jesus shown in the gospels. He was kind to the blind, the lame, the lepers, the drunkards, the adulterers, and sinners. The only people Jesus was not very kind to were those who claimed to know God, but went against God in what they did and taught.

Every day you will have plenty of opportunities to show kindness to others. It could be in the checkout lane at the store, at a gas station, driving down the road, passing by a person on the sidewalk or many other places and situations.

You will have many people who are enemies to you. They will harm you either physically or emotionally with words. When this occurs you will have a choice to either retaliate in anger and vengeance or to return their harm with the kindness and love of God.

Open brown door

Being a believer you will have God’s Holy Spirit in you. With His Holy Spirit in you, you should be displaying His kindness towards everyone. This is another fruit of the Spirit.

If you examine your life and find you are lacking in the area of kindness, seek God for help. Examine how God has shown you kindness and then become more like Jesus in showing kindness towards others. Let your life be marked by one as having kindness towards everyone.

The fruit of the Spirit continues to grow from each one to the next. As you have God’s love showing in your life, you will have His joy, which will bring about His peace, which will bring about His forbearance/patience, which will bring about His kindness in your life. These are the first four fruits that should be evident in your life when you are following Jesus and are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Thank you for continuing on this journey of looking at the fruit of the Spirit. Next week I will continue on with looking at goodness.