Tagged: “fruit of the spirit”
Self-control – Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5v1-26 What is self-control like? Different from the others – it’s about ‘not doing’ more than doing. Think of examples (positive and negative): Joseph – Genesis 39 David – 2 Samuel 11 Cain – Genesis 4v7-8 But is this something we can (or want to) do naturally either? See Acts 24v25 – we’re not […]
Continue ReadingGentleness – Fruit of the Spirit
Matthew 11v16-30 What does the world think about gentleness? It’s just weakness – if you want to get anywhere you need to be tough. Paul talks about being completely humble and gentle – this would have been a completely foreign concept in his day and is much the same in ours. Heart gentleness What is […]
Continue ReadingFaithfulness – Fruit of the Spirit
Psalm 89 This word is translated in a few different ways in the New Testament. Faith, assurance, faithfulness, fidelity. 244 times in total, and nearly all of them are actually translated as ‘faith’. A few are words that mean the same thing as faith. Titus 2v10 it is translated as fidelity. Romans 3v3 and Galatians […]
Continue ReadingGoodness – Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5v16-6v10 What is good? The word here is to do with practical goodness – ‘kind goodness’ – actions that go with standards. What does the world think is the standard for goodness? People often try to go for some kind of standard which involves what the majority thinks, which boils down to ‘what’s popular […]
Continue ReadingKindness – Fruit of the Spirit
Luke 6v27-38 If we compare different translations of the Bible we may have, we find this is translated either ‘kindness’ or ‘goodness’. Which is it? It means something like ‘good kindness’ and if we look at the context of other uses of the word it becomes clear that kindness is probably the best interpretation here […]
Continue ReadingLongsuffering – Fruit of the Spirit
Hebrews 6v10-20 Everything keeps getting faster. And no matter how fast we can do things, people still run out of patience. Long-suffering could perhaps be translated literally as ‘long-tempered’. It means having a long fuse, putting up with a lot. It’s one of two types of patience we find in the New Testament – the […]
Continue ReadingPeace – Fruit of the Spirit
John 14v23-31 The world is quite keen on peace – national peace, interpersonal peace, personal peace. But do they have peace? Isaiah 59v7-8 – they don’t know peace Isaiah 57v19-20 – there is no peace for the wicked Jer 6v14 – they say ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace Jesus gives peace not as […]
Continue ReadingJoy – Fruit of the Spirit
John 15v1-27 How does the world look on happiness? Think of the sort of things that make them happy. By measuring happiness you can see how successful men are in life, because that’s their purpose. Is it any good as a purpose for life? Solomon tells us that pleasure is vain (Eccl 2v1-11) – you […]
Continue ReadingLove – Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5v13 – 6v5 Does the world understand love? Think of how the word is used – often just a sentiment, which may change tomorrow, something that’s there to make me happy. Look at what the Bible says – it’s the greatest commandment, and the second greatest as well: Matthew 22v37-39 Who and what should […]
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