"But, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The genuine, spontaneous, spirit-controlled believer demonstrates all of these traits that radiate from the Spirit in his or her thoughts, and words, and actions, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
He loves with a holy love, a grace love--nothing about the other person or their actions can quench his love. "But God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." If his love is going to be as holy as His love, then how the other person responds to his love is irrelevant.
The genuine, spontaneous believer reflects the joy of God in every circumstance. For the good of others, he will endure all things. "For the joy that was set before Him" our Savior endured the cross and the shame to prove the love of God by finishing the mission." If the believer lives in His presence, eager for His well-done, he will find fullness of joy. Nowhere else.
He demonstrates God's peace. Through steadfast prayer for the hurting and oppressed, God teaches him to think right and to love right in all situations. His mind is dominated by the things worthy of praise.
His patience is the Spirit's patience. Eager to embrace the hurting, no longer how long it takes to demonstrate the love of God to them, he is unafraid to be taken advantage of, unafraid to be misunderstood, unafraid to be hurt. He is the living channel of the mercy of God that he himself so desperately needs.
He is kind. "Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Seventy times seventy is just the starting point. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" was His cry from the cross for those who nailed Him there, mocked Him, denied the tears He had wept for them. And make no mistake about it, some of them found that forgiveness.
His goodness makes His obedient love genuine. He seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Obedience to the commandments is not a burden but an empowerment to strive with all his heart to do always those things that please Him.
His faithfulness makes him unshakable, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. His daily prayer is "though none go with me, still I must follow." Must. "How can I do less than give Him my best, and live for Him completely, after all He's done for me."
He is always a gentle shepherd--stooping down to lift up the fallen, the victims of injustice, the suffering stranger, even the disobedient, wandering sheep. No one is ever so far down that he cannot stoop down to lift up, taking their burden as his own.
And why is self-control last? Again, it must be--if his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness are going to be holy, they must be genuine, spontaneous, a reflection of the Spirit's control. He must deny himself, put others needs above his own, be unaffected by their response to the Spirit's working in his life to show them Jesus cares. He must abhor the need for self-defense leaving his reputation in the hands of the Father. Then, by God's grace even the Pilates of this world will have to say, "I find no fault in this man."
In such a time as this, may every person I encounter, every circumstance I face, every thought in my heart, every word out of my mouth, and every action that I take be the spontaneous, holy, reflection of the Holy Spirit's complete control of my every moment.
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