Friday Fruit–Kindness

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)

Our series on Fruit of the Spirit continues today with Kindness.

What does kindness mean?  We tend to think of it as being a very weak word I think.  Love is strong.  Faith is strong.  Kindness… it sounds kind of wishy-washy.  Or is that just me?

The word kindness is often translated from the word Chesed, also translated as loving kindness, mercy, compassion etc.  It is an action of Strong Goodwill, not just a vague feeling.

If love is faith, then kindness is action.
Wishing someone well is love, doing something about their needs is kindness.
Loving someone in our hearts needs kindness with our hands/mouth/etc.

How do we show/grow kindness?

Practice makes perfect.

If you see a man fall into a hole, you don’t need to have the gift of helps to be or service to him, or the gift of being a great prayer warrior to pray for him, or the gift of evangelism to call others to come and help him.

You just need to be kind, and throw him a rope. Just reach out, and help him where he stands.

Kindness is how we re-act to the world, and grows out of love.

It is about showing our love to others, deserving or not. But in our own strength we would burn out. We need to be empowered, by the Spirit, for works of kindness.

What do you think kindness means?  How is it a Fruit of the Spirit?

 

Friday Fruit–Patience

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)

Patience my young Padawan (Star Wars)

I think that with the exception of Love, this might be the scariest area to be grown in. God grows love by putting us with unlovely people. And he grows patience by putting us in situations where we are tempted to not be patient.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
(James 1:2-3)

Temptation often starts when we are drawn to something (desire) and ends when we give in to that desire (action). The purpose of patience is learning not to give into that desire, or to seek its fulfilment elsewhere.

For years I desired a suitable marriage partner, which is a noble desire. However the temptation was to look for that person in the wrong place, or to accept someone who was less suited for me. I had to have patience, and faith, that God had the perfect person planned for me. And he did. I could never have found a more perfect wife than the one I have if I had tried for 100 years. I was patient, and God rewarded that patience.

Of course God also throws bad drivers and annoying clients in my path daily in an effort to teach me about patience in those areas, and I am still learning.

Patience grows in our lives as we let go of trying to find our own solutions to problems, and seek God’s solutions. This is why it is linked to faith, because if we can’t accept that there is a solution, we might be tempted to go our own way.

What do you think patience means?  Join me in the discussion about patience, and the other Spiritual Fruit.

 

Friday Fruit–Peace

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)

We continue our weekly look at the Fruit of the Spirit with Peace.

Why is Peace so important as a Fruit of the Spirit?

I believe Peace is connected to faith.  Thanks to the Amplified Bible, we have the following interpretation of John 14:27..

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

We aren’t told to try not to be afraid, or that fear will not find us.  We are told NOT to be afraid.  We are told, I believe, to have faith.
Faith that God is in control.
Faith that Jesus is with us.
Faith that Holy Spirit is within us.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7)

Peace is what guards our hearts and minds from fear, because it is rooted in Faith.  It surpasses all understanding, because it is of the Spirit, not our own nature.

A loss of meaning

…and this is why we nobody takes Goldfish seriously.  They are like the blondes of the fish community.

Plus they cheat at cards.

Friday Fruit : Joy

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)

We continue our Friday Fruit series today with… joy.

“Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice.”(Philippians 4:4)

Joy is about faith, and finding God in all circumstances.  So that our joy and attitude can be governed not by what is happening to us, but by the fact the God is with us in these happenings.

How do we develop Joy as a Spiritual Fruit?

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

This is not just an instruction to be joyful, but an indication of how joy can be achieved. 

We can be joyful by:

• Praying continually
• Giving thanks in all circumstances.  (Not FOR the circumstance, but giving thanks DESPITE the circumstance)

If we are faced with circumstances where our first response is not joy, then our first response needs to be to bring it to the Lord (in prayer).  Then we need to give thanks for God’s provision, and the fact that He will be with us. 

If we can learn to always bring everything to God, and look for the opportunities for thanksgiving, then we will learn to find joy, even in the worst circumstance.

Friday Fruit : Love

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)

…But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13b)

The first of the Fruit of the Spirit attributes that we will be examining will be love.  We see from 1 Corinthians 13:13 (above) that love is mentioned as being quite a big deal.  But why?

I think because love is who God is.  Not just what he does, but who He is. 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
(1 John 4:8)

Our very existence comes because God loved us.  He loved us enough to create us, He loved us enough to save us, He loves us enough to give us His Spirit.  Our response has to be to show love.  To God and to men. 

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. – Romans 13:8-10

Love is… what makes us who we are.
Love is… how we show who we are.
Love is… God shining out from us.
Love is… what we do when we are not strong enough to do anything else.

So how do we show love for others, and develop this Spiritual Fruit? As an exercise, I want to invite you to read 1 Corinthians 13, and replace the word Love with your own name in the second half.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Sharkbait is patient;
Sharkbait is kind;
SHarkbait does not envy;
Sharkbait does not boast;
Sharkbait is not proud;
Sharkbait is not rude;
Sharkbait is not self-seeking;
Sharkbait is not easily angered;
Sharkbait keeps no record of wrongs;
Sharkbait does not delight in evil;
Sharkbait rejoices with the truth;
Sharkbait always protects;
Sharkbait always trusts;
Sharkbait always hopes;
Sharkbait always perseveres.

(So, did you score as badly as I did?)

If we love, then the other qualities will come naturally.
If we focus on the other qualities, then love will follow naturally.

• When we are kind, we show love.
• When we are patient, we show love.
• When we show goodness, we show love.
• When we are gentle, we show love.
• If we love, then we will be kind, patient, good, etc.

What do you think love is?  And how do we grow it in our lives?
 
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