Fruit of the Spirit (Kindness

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26 ESV).

Twenty-two verses of Proverbs chapter 31 speaks of the characteristics of the “wife of noble character,” and in the middle of them is the verse above.   She is a wise woman who teaches kindness.  Sounds like a great combination to me, one that blesses not only her husband and children, but those who live around her.  If her children follow her teaching, joy will thrive in the family. 

   Ephesians 4:32 expands the reach of kindness: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (ESV).  It includes a tenderhearted and forgiving nature because that’s what God has been to us.  This verse also expands the reach of kindness from the civil family to the entire family of Jesus Christ.

   Luke 6:35 expands kindness even further—to our enemies.  “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (ESV).  The teaching of kindness by the “wife of noble character” has grown from kindness within the family to the entire population of the world.  And why do you think that God asks us to expand kindness to so many?  We all know why, because he loves everyone, and He has extended the extreme kindness of the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ, to forgiveness of the sins of everyone—that’s right, everyone—no exclusions.  As His children, we are expected to love as He loves—even the very difficult ones.  

   Fortunately for us, God is compassionate and understanding, and He extends His mercy and grace as far as His love reaches.  When we don’t show kindness to everyone, we can repent and ask for forgiveness, the greatest kindness ever shown.  At the same time we also realize that God expects us to reach toward His high standard to the best of our ability.  So, “kindness” is the word for today.  Let’s exercise kindness today and bring glory to God.   

Fruit of the Spirit (Patience)

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).

   The word “patience” is not used in the Scripture quoted above, but it is implied in two parts: “at the proper time,” and “do not give up.”   There will come a time, but we must keep faith.  God is faithful and is worthy of our trust in Him.  The first part of the verse tells us not to become weary.  In Psalm 37:4, a Psalm of David, we are told, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (NIV).  Most people say that this means that God puts a desire in our heart, and then He fulfills it.  If we believe the other interpretation, that God gives us anything that we desire, then we have a blank check with God’s signature.  God loves us enough not to give us a blank check to do just any old thing we want.  If He is going to fulfill the desires of our hearts, then I believe that He puts the desires there.  And if He puts them there, then He will fulfill them.  But He will fulfill them on His timetable not ours.  “That’s hard because sometimes I have to wait too long.”   Have you ever said that?  I have.  Does that mean that I do not have patience?  It may seem that way, but according to Galatians 5:22,23, patience is one part of the fruit of the Spirit that we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior.   

   So, if I am “born again,” I have patience.  That’s true; I was given patience when I accepted Jesus as Lord.   Then why does it seem that I don’t have it?  I have a current project that I have been working on for over two years, and I thought it was finished, but it appears that there are things that still need to happen for the project to be really complete.  And I am feeling impatient.  It’s probably because I haven’t learned to exercise patience, to help it grow in my life.  It will grow as I exercise it, and it looks like this is one of those times that I have to just trust a little longer. 

   This project is a desire that God put in my heart, so I know that it will be completed, and now I have to believe that God’s timing is better than mine, and to do that I have to believe that God is helping me to grow in patience.   Galatians 6:9 must become a biblical rock for me at this time.  Chances to grow in patience may be uncomfortable, but they do draw us closer to our Lord, so I thank Him for them.

The Fruit of the Spirit (Peace)

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27 KJV).

Campground in southwest New York (2012)

Peace, we all want it.  Politicians proclaim it, and individuals pray for it.  On September 30, 1938, after a meeting with Adolph Hitler, Neville Chamberlan, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, announced:  “Peace for our time.”  He was right, but “our time” lasted less than a year.  On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland beginning one of the most costly wars ever in terms of lives—a war that ultimately lasted until September 2, 1945, six years and one day after it began.  I remember the long-drawn-out peace talks during the Korean War.  They lasted for more than two years and 159 formal meetings.  They argued about such things as the shape of the tables.  And it was not an armistice agreement; it was a cease-fire.  Well, that’s enough about mankind’s attempts to end military confrontations.  It turns out that it is difficult to stop fighting, and that is true even in personal conflicts.  We can’t do it ourselves, and the verse quoted above speaks to that point.   Jesus leaves us peace, and His peace is not like the world’s peace.  His peace is personal, and it lasts forever.

   Peace in our personal lives is sometimes just as hard to attain as peace between nations on the world stage.  Often “peace” occurs between individuals only when they stop talking to each other.   There is no forgiveness—there is no reconciliation, like the Korean War, just a halt to fighting.  

   So where does peace come from?  Obviously, it comes from God, but in Romans 12:18 (NIV), He has given us a responsibility to try our hardest to be the peacemakers:  “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  It’s important to notice that it does not say, “with your neighbors,” or “with you friends.”  It simply says, “with everyone.”  In the Bible when it says “everyone,” it means “everyone.”  We could make a long list of those we may not want to speak to in order to make peace.  The verse does give us an “out” by beginning with the words, “If it is possible.”  So, if it isn’t possible, should we stop trying to make peace with certain people?  Sorry, but the answer is “not yet!”   The next words in the Scripture, “as far as it depends on you,” tells us that we need to do whatever it takes to make peace, and if peace is refused, then we have done all we can, and the other person has made a decision to have no peace with us.  We may need to try several times.  If peace is not forthcoming at this point, we can walk away and let it alone.  Yes, we can let it alone except for that nagging suspicion that we may not have done everything possible.  The Lord will take that nagging suspicion away and give us peace Himself, and then we know that the lack of peace is not our fault, and we have received peace from our Lord.  And it can be said about us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NIV). 

The Fruit of the Spirit (Joy)

“Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is holy to our Lord.  Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your strength’ ”  (Nehemiah 8:10 NIV).

   Nehemiah said it, “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  He was speaking to the nation of Israel after they had been returned to their land, and the “Book of the Law of God” was being read aloud to them for the first time in a long time.  The people were lamenting and crying.  Nehemiah, speaking for the Lord, told them to rejoice and have a party for it was a holy day to their Lord.  That Word is appropriate for us today.  Rejoice and have joy for the joy of the Lord is our strength.  

   Let’s look at this statement in two contexts centuries apart—the jailer of Paul and Silas in the town of Philippi and a noted present-day pastor, Keith Moore.  The contexts are very different, but the message is the same today as it was in Paul’s time—the joy of the Lord is our strength!  

   The jailer was told that Paul and Silas were dangerous men and that they should be kept in tight security, so he put them in the dungeon with leg chains.  They were known as “dangerous people” because they had been preaching the Gospel.  During the night Paul and Silas were praying and singing.  A sudden earthquake hit the area, and all the doors of the prison were opened, and all the chains were broken off the prisoners.  The jailer, thinking all the prisoners had escaped was preparing to kill himself when Paul cried out, “Don’t be alarmed.  We are all still here.”  The jailer must have heard their prayers and their songs because he came before them and asked what he must do to be saved.  They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  The jailers’ entire household believed and were saved—all of them.  The jailer washed Paul’s and Silas’s wounds, took them into his house and asked for all of his household to be baptized.  In Acts 16:34 we are told, “The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”  The jailer was filled with joy for the best reason in the world—he and his entire household were assured of eternity in heaven with the Lord.”

   Keith Moore had a very different experience.  He was walking through the children’s department of his church, carrying a little girl.  She saw a picture of a baby elephant and started to laugh.  Keith asked her why she was laughing, and her answer was, “He’s silly.”  The picture made her think that the elephant looked silly, so she laughed.  Keith looked at the picture and began laughing with her.  Keith’s statement about this happening was, “That little girl and little children everywhere know how to do something so simple, something that so many grumpy, grouchy adults have forgotten.  They know how to yield to joy.” 

   Keith then related the account of Nehemiah 8:10 that ends with “…The joy of the Lord is your strength.”   We sometimes leave a church service feeling great because of the joy that we feel.   But let us deal with some problem in our lives, medical, financial, or personal when we get home and we let the joy slip away and depression enters.  That is satan at work, doing his worst, stealing our joy.   A depressed Christian is not a very good witness.   Keith suggests that the next time we run into a problem dumped on us by satan, we need to stop and say out loud, “The joy of the Lord is my strength,” and repeat it several times.  For, as Zephania 3:27 says, “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”  The Lord has joy, He rests,  He sings, and He rejoices over me.  With God on my side, in joy, resting, rejoicing, and singing, I can be in joy also.  Keith Moore ends his article with this:  “That’s what the body of Christ is supposed to do—have fun and rejoice in our salvation.   We’re supposed to enjoy the goodness of God.  We’re supposed to be so blessed and happy that sinners look at us and say, ‘I want that!   I want that kind of Christianity.’   Glory to God!”

   The jailer of Paul and Silas, and Kieth Moore agree:  “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

   (I suggest that you read Keith Moore’s article, “Yield to Joy” in the October, 2026 edition of “The Believer’s Voice of Victory” magazine published by Kenneth Copeland Ministries.)   

 

The Fruit of the Spirit (Love)

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nether the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39 NIV).

   Paul is certainly convinced that God loves Him, and that He always will, and his statement in Romans, quoted above, expands that love to all of us for all of time.   That’s right, God loves each and every one of us, and He always will, no matter what.  He loves even those who choose to go to hell rather than return His love.  His heart sorrows for them.  In Romans 5:8, we are told, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NKJV).

   The Bible speaks of three kinds of love: eros, phileo, and agape.  For this message I will restrict the usage to agape, the selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love shown by God for us.  He expects us to express this love, agape love, for Him and for all those He created.  That is quite an expectation that God has for us—for everyone--Really, even the neighbor who parks his car on my lawn, even the guy who cuts me off in traffic, even the guy who swore at me today, even the guy who stole $500 from me, even the guy who disagrees with me politically, even people like Adolph Hitler!   The answer from God is, “Yes, everyone means everyone!”  Wow!  I don’t think I can do that.  Can you?  This is where God’s mercy and grace that He expresses toward those we don’t like, are also applied to us.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”   That’s what He tells us in 1John 1:9.   Even though He forgives us for not showing His love to all, He does want us to do so, and Jesus told us that in John 15:12)-- “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (NIV)  

   What does God say about us loving Him?  Among the commands given to Israel by God, through Moses, before they entered the Promised Land were these words from Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (NIV)   God expects from us total devotion to Him.  He leaves no room for other gods either explicit by name or implicit by action.   A heart not totally committed to Jehovah God cannot love Him all the time in all strength.  We, today, don’t think of loving other gods like Zeus or Apollo, but we do let our desire for the things of this world like monetary wealth, expensive cars, and lives of comfort, creep into our minds and even our hearts.  Again, God does apply His mercy and grace to us, but I can’t help believing that He does become disappointed with us.  Dare I ask, ‘What has God done to deserve our undying love?”  The Name of Jesus answers that question even before the question is out of the mouth.  

   Yes, God does deserve all of our love.  In John 14:23: “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teachings.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (NIV).com