Extraordinarily Patient

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

God didn’t give you just any kind of patience (longsuffering).  Patience is part of God’s character and He has equipped you with His own patience.  He is extraordinarily patient.  God has what it takes to get through hard times and he has given you that power too!

More Fruit...

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

Goodness – it’s more than nice.  Goodness is making deliberate choices of right over wrong, throwing up a wall of resistance when you feel like unleashing hurtful words or actions.  Goodness thinks and acts on the Fruit of the Spirit.

Kindness = Mercy

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

Kindness means to show sympathy, helpfulness, friendliness and thoughtfulness, towards another person. Kindness gives a blessing to others, even when they do not deserve it and it withholds punishment that is due. Kindness is being merciful. The words kindness and mercy can be interchanged.

The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy!

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

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are born again and the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us. One of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit is Joy. We are not waiting to get Joy, we have Joy! It has already been given to us. We need to renew our thinking to the Word of God that reminds us that we have all things in Christ… including Complete Joy!

Today's Thought: What are some scriptures that help you renew your thinking, and walk in complete joy?

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