The Quest for Character Pt. 3

The Fruit of the Spirit

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

~Galatians 5:22-23


LOVE

“All imitations of the Spirit’s fruit are inadequate and ultimately bad-tasting.”

“From the fact that this is the Holy Spirit’s fruit, we know it belongs only to those in whom He dwells. Fruit comes from a rooted, abiding, living presence. You’ll never get fruit from cut flower in a vase. You won’t see fruit sprout from a fencepost. Fruit is the product of life.”


JOY

“Real joy is not a shallow, giddy, fleeting sort of glee, but a deep-down, abiding sense of well-being that stems from the satisfaction a true believer finds in God.”

“Joy is one of the true delights of God’s kingdom, a greater bliss than any earthly pleasure.”


PEACE

“…peace is the tranquility of a soul who finds rest in Him.”

“…in order to be a peacemaker, a person must himself know peace with God.”


LONGSUFFERING

“The Greek term translated ‘longsuffering’… contains the ideas of patience, tolerance, forbearance, and restraint.”

“Longsuffering is a particular kind of patient, gentle, persevering self-control that especially comes into play in our dealings with people who deliberately try to provoke us.”


KINDNESS

“The idea of gentleness and tenderness involved in this expression has nothing to do with weakness or feebleness.”

“True kindness is actually a gracious strength. It presupposes a steadfast tenacity that sees a relationship through trials and hardship.”


GOODNESS

“It speaks of decency and good character in general.”

“It means goodness as opposed to badness. It also implies the idea of active goodness-an attitude that seeks to do good, as opposed to just being passively benign and agreeable.”


FAITHFULNESS

“…faith has built right into it a principle that engenders the quality of faithfulness-which is a steadfast devotion to the truth.”

“We are justified by faith, not faithfulness, and it’s vital to understand the distinction.”


GENTLENESS

“So what this term describes is a tender, considerate, patient, humble spirit of compassion when dealing with others’ offenses and failures.”


SELF-CONTROL

“…all the virtues we have discussed imply the necessity of self-control.”

“…[it] is the exercise of godly restraint upon our human appetites and passions.”



Up next: “The Triumph of Love”