The gifts of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are the result of our transformation from being attached to the world to an attachment to God with a great love for God in our lives. These gifts result from our following the Indwelling Spirit of God wherever He would lead us. First, we allow God […]

  When Jesus, after great agony in Gethsemane, stood up to the Temple officials, the Roman Governor, and all His accusers, faced His awful death and then rose again from the dead three days later, He set a pattern of life for us that we, His followers, still go through today. Although we may feel […]

  These three qualities: goodness, kindness and gentleness express love, patience, peace, joy, faithfulness and self-control, the other qualities of the fruit of the Spirit to a T.[1] But are we Christians known by our goodness, kindness and gentleness? What do those qualities have to do with spreading His word, with serving His people? And […]

  If we meet a person and judge their lives by what we see on the surface—how they dress or look, or what they have done, we are not loving him or her.  If we don’t get to know their story and why they are the way they are, then we are not open to […]

  I am at peace with my thoughts.   Two years ago as I drove home to Charlotte from Lake James, a 90 minute drive, I sensed that I should turn off my radio. What I discovered that day in the silence was that my thoughts were a boiling caldron of anger and defensiveness and […]

  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” The Greek word used most often in the New Testament for mercy is eleos. It means mercy, pity, the moral quality of feeling compassion and especially of showing kindness toward someone in need. This can refer to a human kindness and to God’s kindness […]

Paul described the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-3: peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Fruit is the end product of a long growing season, the product the plant or tree offers the world. That this “fruit” comes from the Spirit of God means that it is given to us, […]