Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Fruit Of The Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Working all nine of these traits into our lives seems impossible, and indeed it is. But the moment we became a Christian, the Holy Spirit began a divine work to produce Christ's character in you. Regardless of who you are, the Spirit works from the same model, Jesus Christ. The Spirit looks to Christ in order to find the blueprint for your character.

1. The Spirit will immediately begin helping you experience and practice the same love that Jesus had when He laid down His life for His friends. Another way to see this is LOVE is the caring of Jesus.

2. The same joy He experienced will now fill you. JOY is the celebration of Jesus. This is one of the main elements missing from American Christianity. Walking in the Spirit does not put on a long face.

3. The identical peace that guarded the heart of Jesus, even as He was being beaten and mocked, will be the peace that the Spirit works to instill in you. PEACE is the calmness of Jesus. Walking in the Spirit doesn’t worry or fret.

4. The long-suffering/patience Jesus had for His most unreachable disciple will be the patience that the Spirit now develops in you. LONGSUFFERING is the constancy of Jesus. Jesus is faithful and dependable.

5. The gentleness Jesus showed toward children and sinners will soften your heart toward others. GENTLENESS is the comforting of Jesus. Gentleness is not passivity or being docile. It is being kind and considerate.

6. There will be a goodness about you that is only explainable by the presence of the Spirit of God. GOODNESS is the charity of Jesus.

7. The Spirit will build the same faith into you that led Jesus to be entirely obedient to His Father. FAITH is the confidence and conviction of Jesus.

8. The Holy Spirit will blossom the same meekness that made Christ great. MEEKNESS is the consideration of Jesus.

9. The Spirit will teach you temperance/self-control so that you will have strength to do what is right and to resist temptation. TEMPERANCE is the constraint and control of Jesus.

May God help us to have this precious fruit in our lives!

Excerpted from a sermon entitled, The Fruit Of The Spirit by:
Pastor Mike Walls
Freedom Baptist Church Smithfield, NC

If you enjoy reading/studying sermon outlines, you will truly be blessed by joining this Yahoo mailing list. Most of the articles sent out are by brother Mike Walls.

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