In Paul's list of the fruit
of the Spirit, he has named “love” first and foremost as he share
with the church members in Galatia. From love comes joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, and faith. However, there is one trait
that is also important before Paul moves to the next verse –
goodness. We shall look at goodness first, and then go on to share
the last two traits found in verse twenty-three in chapter five.
Paul's list as found in verses twenty-two and twenty-three are as
follows:
But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Before
faith, Paul listed “goodness”.
The Greek word for “goodness” is “agathosyne”. It means to
have uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness.
The idea is having a genuine nature of being “good” and “sweet”,
having others in mind before oneself, and being gracious to others.
Whereas the flesh nature seeks its own, the spirit nature
exemplifying goodness seeks another's benefit. How often do we see
occasions where this fruit of “goodness” is necessary today.
Paul goes on to add,
“meekness” which means “strength under control.”
Although a person obtains power he or she keeps it bridled and
restrained from abuse. “Meekness” is not weakness as is often
thought, but rather has it's roots in an understanding of who one is.
For example, the best way to describe one who is “meek” is to
divide the word - “me – ek”. When a person has this fruit of
the Spirit within them, other people become the object of their
compassion and they put themselves and their power behind.
Paul adds, “temperance”
which is “self-control.” This fruit is the virtue of one who
masters desires and passions, and particularly sensual appetites.
Some people will often use the phrase, “I just couldn't stop
myself” or “I didn't have the will-power to control it” when
referring to indulgence in some fleshly desire. Those who walk in the
Spirit of God will bear the fruit of self-control, and by being led
of the Spirit, they will not fulfill or give in to the fleshly lusts.
Now it is one thing to list
the fruit of the Spirit, however, Paul the apostle doesn't leave us
with just a record. He adds, “against such there is no law”.
There is no law necessary when a person lives within the fruit of the
Spirit. Paul and Jesus told us that we are to love our neighbors as
ourselves, and when we possess “love” we fulfill the law of God.
There is no need for a law to be over us because we naturally abide
in the confines of the law. Imagine if there was a world where
everyone lived by the fruit of the Spirit of God all the time. What a
wonderful world this would be.
Before we go on to our next
study, let us remember that Jesus fulfilled all righteousness and
lived according to the Spirit of God. He manifested the fruit of the
Spirit perfectly, and every fruit within Paul's list was within
Jesus. If we desire to see a demonstration of the life that obtains
the fruit of the Spirit, let us look to Jesus, and when we do, we
will find our example of what it means to walk and be led of the
Spirit.
Next time we will see what Paul has to say about what those who are
Christ's do with the flesh, so read ahead, and let us join together
then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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