“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

We come to the ninth characteristic listed for as a fruit of the Spirit: self-control.

A quick reminder:

• There are not nine fruits of the Spirit. The fruit in the Greek is singular
• These nine characteristics are not a complete nor a closed set of characteristics
• The idea is that qualities and virtues like these are what happens – are the fruit – of the Spirit of God alive in us

None of these qualities or virtues originate with us. They are the results of the Holy Spirit at work in us. We experience these things as recipients. God first loves us, gives us joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., and having received God’s love and Spirit in such a way, we then become able to share those same qualities and virtues with others. These Spiritual qualities and virtues do not originate with us nor can they be generated by us. They are received qualities and virtues.

The word for the week is self-control. The Greek word for self-control is egkrateia. The word literally means mastery, self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint. Like all the other qualities, self-control can only be accomplished by the power of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. That is why it is a fruit of the Spirit.

This word only occurs four times in the New Testament.

I am looking forward to seeing what God has to teach us about self-control throughout this week. Blessings!

“But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

“But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:9-11).

As a sojourner, as you travel to another country, you need to exchange some currency so you can function while you are sojourning. It would be ludicrous to exchange all your money and invest all your life savings into the currency where you are merely sojourning.

The scriptures tell us that our existence here on earth is like a journey. We are aliens and exiles in this life. We are residents of heaven. We are only sojourning through life. Our home is with God in heaven.

As sojourners, we need to exchange some of our investments so that we can function while living on this earth. However, it would be ludicrous to invest all we are and all we have for life on earth. Instead we are instructed to invest in a currency that operates in heaven.

What is the currency of heaven?

• Righteousness
• Godliness
• Faith
• Love
• Endurance
• Gentleness

These things are what we are to invest in. This is the only smart investment we can make if we are citizens of heaven. We are sojourners. It’s when we get confused to think that this world is all there is that we become trapped by many senseless and harmful desires.

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, invest wisely!

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12)

Gentleness. Meekness.

In modern day English neither words portray strength or power. Instead they imply the opposite.

Gentleness. Meekness.

Doesn’t seem very American. And that’s a shame because these are qualities that are absolutely necessary for today’s America.

The word translated as meekness is the same word as gentleness in the Greek. One of the best ways of understanding meekness and gentleness is the picture of a lioness carrying her cub in her mouth. The lioness possesses all the power in jaws and fangs to kill a cub. It would not take much effort on her part to do so. But what keeps her from doing so is her love for the cub. But this doesn’t mean she doesn’t possess the power. It just means she restrains because of her love and care for her cub.

The ultimate picture of meekness and gentleness is Jesus on the cross. He did not have to die the death of the cross. At any time during his trial and crucifixion all of the forces of heaven and earth to crush evildoers was available to him. The power to do so was always and constantly available. But it was his love for sinners, his love for you and me, that he chose restraint because his restraint and suffering meant our life for you and me. He chose us instead.

That is meekness.

Power under love.

Oh man! Our world could use a boatloads of meekness. Even though meekness and gentleness may not be an American trait, let’s make sure it is a Christian trait!