Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
The last several articles have described various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. We have seen that it includes love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness and goodness. It also produces faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let’s take a look at the impact of these characteristics.
Belief in God and the conviction he will reward those who diligently seek him is faith. It is absolutely essential to those who would please the Almighty. Those possessing faith will not be liked by those who love the world. Our Lord said, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).
The commitment to faithfully serve requires constant focus on pleasing God. A man once told the Lord he wanted to follow Jesus, but first desired to go back and say goodbye to his family. “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:62).
One measure of a man’s faithfulness is seen in his actively telling others the good news. Paul told his son in the faith, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). It may also be necessary to refuse to deny Christ, even in the face of death (Revelation 2:10).
Our Lord, in the sermon on the mount, pronounced a blessing on the meek, saying they would inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Paul explained it to the saints at Ephesus: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-2).
Peter helped wives to understand meekness when he said they should not focus on attention-getting clothing. They should instead clothe their inner being with “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). Paul’s Gentile son in the faith learned it is shown in displaying gentleness toward all men (Titus 3:2).
Self-control is “the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites” (Thayer 167). Anyone desiring to enter heaven must display self-control.
The nature of our warfare is described by Paul in his letter to the church of God in Corinth, clearly demonstrating the need for self-control (2 Corinthians 10:5). He had already asked them, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?" He went on to urge them to run their lives in a fashion that would assure their obtaining the prize, which includes demonstrating self-control. He showed it in his own life. "Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Christ’s followers must always remember that we can “quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We can also grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). We should strive to produce the entire fruit of the Spirit, including faithfulness, goodness and self-control, to avoid either of these bad results.
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