April 12
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Love, joy, and peace characterize those filled with the Spirit, as we touched on yesterday. But the Spirit leaves His fingerprint in other qualities in our lives as well. Patience is next on the list. This quality ties back to love, and it is the first characteristic of love that Paul mentions in that famous passage on love in 1 Corinthians 13:4, and kindness is the second quality he mentions there.
Do your interactions with others leave them feeling at peace, and do they feel like you like them and want to be with them? Are they comfortable around you, or are they put off by you? Do you speak quickly and rudely, or do you give the impression that they are wasting your time, or are you able to listen long, draw them out, and really take an interest in them? Do you truly want to get to know others, and do you want to be their friend? Or are you tired of the interruption and really would rather not be bothered? Are others a means to an end and perhaps an annoyance, or are you genuinely concerned for their welfare and desire to minister to them in any way that you can?
Are you more concerned about things or more concerned about people? Are you more concerned about the messes people make and time they take up, or are you grateful for the opportunity to talk and share and help and build into their lives? I am ashamed to say that for many years, without even realizing it, I viewed others as more of an annoyance, and I cannot say I liked people or was grateful for the opportunity to be with them. If this describes you in any way, please stop and repent of this sin now. Ask God to give you a heart that is tender and sensitive to others, expended and poured out ministering to others. There is no greater pursuit than to love the Lord and love others. I don’t think we really can love God if we don’t have a tenderness for others and a desire to patiently spend time with them or meet their needs. Patience with and kindness for others are hugely important and are key evidences of those who are filled with the Spirit.
Goodness. Are we good? I mean, would others look at us and say, “That is a good man (or woman)?” Do we talk down about others or use vulgar or unwholesome speech? I think those are evidences of a lack of goodness in us. Are we holy, or can others see impurity of any kind in us? Are we putting to death the deeds of the flesh? Is that evident to others? Do we put others before ourselves or do we put ourselves before others? These in my opinion are the types of things that characterize those who are good, among other things. And what about faithfulness (the Greek word here is pistis; this word is most often translated simply “faith”)? Are we characterized by those whose hope and trust is steadfastly placed on the Lord, and is this evident in the way we talk, or is it evident when we speak that faith in the Lord does not have first place in our lives? Do we even acknowledge the Lord when we speak to others, particularly non-Christians? Do other people think of you as full of faith, or full of yourself or something else? Think about this, and we’ll continue our discussion of the fruit of the Spirit tomorrow.