Category: Fruit of the Spirit
-
The Mirror
This is the “capstone” to my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. As I was reading through the past nine posts I’ve written, from “Love” to “Self-Control,” I noticed a common thread running through all of them. While writing each post, I was perpetually led back to the truth that the fruits…
-
Self-Control
This is the ninth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. What controls you? What prompts you to action? What are the powers to which you will never say “no”? For believers, there should be only one answer to each of these questions: Christ, and Christ alone. His pleasure should…
-
Gentleness
This is the eighth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom…For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above…
-
Faithfulness
This is the seventh installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. In a sermon entitled “The Right Kind of Faith,” theologian D. L. Moody told the following story: “I wanted to teach my little boy what faith was some time ago, and so I put him on a table. He…
-
Goodness
This is the sixth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). What does “doing good” entail? What is our motivation for good deeds?…
-
Kindness
This is the fifth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. “Be kind.” You see it everywhere: it’s on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and social media hashtags; it covers laptops and water bottles; it was even on VHS rentals (be kind, rewind, y’all). While there is certainly nothing wrong with the…
-
Patience
This is the fourth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit How would you define patience? Sometimes we associate patience with having self-control during annoying, frustrating, or needlessly time-consuming situations. Perhaps we could call it “a willingness to wait.” The traffic is backed up for a mile. The cashier is…
-
Peace
This is the third installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. Everybody wants peace. None of us enjoy conflictual relationships, either with each other or with ourselves. Yet sometimes it’s hard to know how conflict gets into our lives in the first place, and where to find resolving peace. Even…
-
Joy
This is the second installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. Out of all the fruit of the Spirit, I think that joy is strangely one of the most ignored. We often think of it as a bonus prize tacked onto our everyday lives as Christians, instead of a natural…
-
Love
This is the first installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit begins with love. Joy is love exulting; peace is love in repose; longsuffering is love on trial; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness…
Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding 