In part one of this three part series on the Fruit of the Spirit, we focused on the first three traits. They are the upward qualities of Love, Joy and Peace. In this second part, we will focus on the next three which are Patience, Kindness and Goodness. These are called outward qualities because they show us how to relate to others.
The Fruit of Patience
Have you ever heard someone say “don’t pray for patience”? There’s a reason for that. Patience is defined in the David Jeremiah Study Bible as “The quiet willingness to accept irritating or painful situations.”
If you ask God to give you patience you are not going to wake up one morning as the easy going, hard to irritate person you dream of being. You are more than likely going to walk right into some of those difficult and painful situations you don’t like.
Why? If you want to be a more patient person you are going to be faced with situations that will require you to BE patient. Stuck in traffic? Long line at the grocery store? Those are minor irritations that will require some patience on our part.
But what about situations a little more painful? Praying for the salvation of a loved one? Waiting for circumstances that are out of your control to change? These are times where patience is a little more hard to come by.
What does the Bible say about patience?
The Bible tells us in Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
And in 2 Peter 3:9 it says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Gods word tells us that even HE has to be patient. And that is good news for us. He is willing to be patient with us so that we don’t have to spend eternity apart from Him.
Knowing how we, as humans, feel while waiting for someone to put their faith in Jesus, imagine how God must feel while waiting for that too. He loves us way more than we could ever imagine, or more than we could love each other.
The Fruit of Kindness
Kindness can be described as generosity and consideration toward others. What exactly does that mean? Well, in general it means how we treat other people. And not just other people that are nice to us. All people.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t have boundaries, or that we allow people to mistreat or abuse us. It simply means to show consideration for others feelings and situations.
Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
A rude customer, a hateful comment on a social media post, or even a loved one getting snippy with you. These are all situations where we can show the fruit of kindness. We may even feel they deserve the equally hateful response we could give them, but sometimes being kind means not responding at all.
The Fruit of Goodness
In simplest of terms, goodness is referred to as “moral excellence”. While it is impossible for us to ever be perfect this side of eternity, we should strive to show goodness to others.
In Acts chapter 10, Peter is telling the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles. In verse 38 he says “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
This one verse is a great summary of what Jesus did while here on earth. He walked in the power given to him by God, and did GOOD towards others. We should all take notes on how to be more like Christ.
*Definitions and some notes taken from the David Jeremiah Study Bible.
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