fruit of the spirit

February 18, 2012 By Mary Hess

To read all of the posts in this series, click here.

Our key scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 â€“ ESV
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Moving right along in our study, we’re going to talk about faithfulness this week. Faithfulness (or faith) in the Greek is pistis – Ï€á½·ÏƒÏ„Î¹Ï‚ – and means

1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it

a) relating to God

1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ

b) relating to Christ

1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God

c) the religious beliefs of Christians

d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same

2) fidelity, faithfulness

a) the character of one who can be relied on

That’s a lot, right? But really all of those are traits we should be displaying when we show faithfulness or have faith. I think the one that struck me the most is “fidelity, faithfulness, the character of one who can be relied on.” I know that we can look at that from a human perspective: we should be faithful in our marriages, in our friendships, etc.

But most important, we should be faithful to God.

Yeah. I said that.

Faithful to God.

How often do we cheat on Him by allowing our time to be swallowed up by less important things? How often do we push Him to the side because we have other pressing matters to deal with. How often do we choose TV or computers or phones or whatever?

I know I’m guilty of it.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again:

If I spent the same amount of time with my husband as I currently do with God, would I still be married today?

Do I show faithfulness to Him as well those around me? Do I show faithfulness with the small things He’s entrusted to me? Am I reflecting His character at all times?

These are the things that cross my mind as I look at faithfulness. That word packs a big punch, ya know?

I want to be counted faithful.

I want to hear those words one day:

‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21

Don’t you?

February 11, 2012 By Mary Hess

To read all of the posts in this series, click here.

So today we’re talking about goodness.

That word just sounds good, doesn’t it?

Goodness is actually intermingled with kindness in this scripture, as you can see by the definition of the Greek word agathÅsynÄ“:

1) uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness

Did you notice that first phrase in the definition? Uprightness of heart and life. That’s pretty strong, don’t you think? What does it take to have uprightness of heart and life? What does that mean for you, for me?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

Uprightness of heart and life equals integrity.

Yes.

Integrity.

Goodness, the characteristic/temperament of the Fruit of the Spirit, means integrity.

What are the effects of living a life and having a heart full of integrity? Let’s look:

Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 1 Kings 3:6 (NIV)

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” Job 2:3 (NIV)

Ummm, yeah.

Seems that integrity is important to God, don’t you think? It affects our character if we don’t live a life of integrity, if there’s no integrity in our hearts.

You’ve probably said it before when talking about someone you know who has integrity: “He’s a good man” or “She’s a good woman.” Integrity is a major, deciding factor in dealing with people in business, in deciding whether or not to value their opinions or thoughts.

I don’t know about you but I sure would love to be known like David or Job. I mean, God Himself told Satan, “well, my servant Job is amazing. He is full of integrity – you should check him out.”

Seriously?!?!

Yep.

Seriously.

Isn’t that crazy? Is that crazy to anyone else out there that God offered up Job to Satan? That’s like a major, MAJOR, compliment, don’t you think?

I do.

Wow.

But let’s not digress down the integrity road too much. I want us to focus on some different areas of goodness:

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6 (NIV)

The root word for Goodness in this Psalm is towb. Check it out:

1) good, pleasant, agreeable

Yep.

As we are operating in the Fruit of the Spirit, we are to be good, pleasant and agreeable.

Ahem.

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

Being agreeable and pleasant is definitely reflected in the scripture above, wouldn’t you say?

But isn’t that the hardest thing? Because our nature is to defend ourselves – to fight – but we should all live a life of goodness. Greet each other with love, kindness and be pleasant to be around.

I know, right?

Easier said than done.

But as we grow in the Spirit and our relationship with God, we will because we will be more like Him every day.