What is love? Love is: joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. Love is walking in the fullness of the Spirit.
Notice how the Fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23 corresponds with the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.Galatians 5:22-23
Love suffers long (Longsuffering) and is kind (Gentleness); love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up (Meekness); does not behave rudely (Goodness), does not seek its own (Gentleness), is not provoked (Longsuffering), thinks no evil (Peace); does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth (Joy); bears all things (Temperance), believes all things, hopes all things (Faith), endures all things (Temperance). Love never fails.1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJVLove COMBINES all the fruits of the Spirit. Those who walk in the fruit of the Spirit exemplify love.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus was like? Jesus displayed a Spirit controlled temperament. He walked in love.
Jesus often Rejoiced:
In that hour JESUS REJOICED in the Spirit and said, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.Luke 10:21Jesus was full of Peace:
Peace I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.John 14:27Jesus was Longsuffering:
When you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because CHRIST ALSO SUFFERED for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.1 Peter 2:21,23Jesus was Gentle— He was merciful and forgiving:
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, so you also must do.Colossians 3:12-13Jesus did Good:
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about DOING GOOD, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.Acts 10:38Jesus displayed Faith:
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE NO FAITH?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”Mark 4:37-41Jesus was Meek:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I AM MEEK AND LOWLY IN HEART: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Matthew 11:28-30Jesus was Temperate:
And in the morning, RISING UP A GREAT WHILE BEFORE DAY, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, AND THERE PRAYED.Mark 1:35Jesus had the Spirit without measure.
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.John 3:34If we through God’s Spirit walk in Christ, we can express God’s Spirit without measure too.
But how do we get there?
Advanced Discipleship Training
Over the last 9 articles I’ve discussed the fruit of the Spirit. In my first article, How To Live the Christian Life, I discussed 3 foundational principles for living the Christian life. Those principles were:
1. Your new nature is perfect— it is your new identity.
2. Dealing with sin is about remaining in the Kingdom of God.
3. Bring heaven to earth through Christ in you.
Go back and review them if you have forgotten.
In other articles I discussed:
Meekness: Having a Servant’s Heart
Peace: Getting God’s Perspective
Gentleness: The Power of Kindness and Mercy
Longsuffering: Maintaining Emotional Balance
Goodness: Filling the Gap
Faith: Objective Evidence in Action
Temperance: Winning the Prize
Joy: The Expression of Inner Contentment
But now we have to get the fruit of the Spirit into our lives. We can’t just know about it, we have to LIVE it!
That’s why in the next few sessions I will be discussing my 4 part regimen for training. This is a DAILY action plan for walking out the fruit of the Spirit. It looks like this:
In the morning you will pray the Lord’s Prayer (15 minutes).
Study
You’ll study and master essential principles for maintaining a Godly perspective in your life. Some principles are: Your identity in Christ, Substitutionary Life the Christ, Advanced fruit of the Spirit development (30 minutes).
On-The Go
You’ll produce scripture cards and fruit of the Spirit cards for use during your work day.
Recharge
In the evening you’ll read the Bible chronologically (15 minutes). As you read you’ll be looking for:
1. Biblical figures that exemplify a fruit or fruits of the Spirit (Job = Longsuffering, Gentleness).
2. Scripture that uses the exact fruit of the Spirit term (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Philippians 4:6-7 = Peace).
3. Scripture that describes a fruit of the Spirit but does not use the exact term (Psalm 1:1-6 = Temperance).
Are you ready to go to the next level? Are you ready to walk in a Spirit controlled temperament?
We’ll get started in our next session! Click here to go there now.
Fruit of the Spirit Card
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