March 11 “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way; in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison” (Mt. 5:25 NASB) One of the surface lessons we learn from this passage…
March 10 “The fruit of the Spirit is…temperance…” (Gal. 5:23) The preferred rendering of this last fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Temperance has become associated particularly with restraint in the use of intoxicating drinks. Self-control carries the thought of moderation or abstinence in every area of life. By the power of the Holy Spirit,…
March 9 “The fruit of the Spirit is…meekness…” (Gal. 5:23) When we think of meekness, we are apt to think of Caspar Milquetoast, the comic strip character who was the embodiment of timidity and weakness. But this fruit of the Spirit is something very different. It comes from supernatural power, not from weakness. It refers…
March 8 “The fruit of the Spirit is…faith…” (Gal. 5:22) This fruit of the Spirit is generally understood as being faithfulness. It is not the faith that saves, or the trust we exercise in God day by day (although it may include that). Rather it is our fidelity and dependability in our dealings with the…
March 7 “The fruit of the Spirit is…goodness…” (Gal. 5:22) Goodness means excellence of character. Someone has defined it as “virtue equipped at every point,” which simply means that the person possessing it is kind, virtuous and righteous in every area of life. Goodness is the opposite of badness. A bad man may be deceitful,…
March 6 “The fruit of the Spirit is…kindness…” (Gal. 5:22 NASB) The King James Version has the word “gentleness” here but almost all modern versions read “kindness.” “The fruit of the Spirit is…kindness.” Kindness describes the gentle, gracious, generous disposition that results in the doing of favors, the showing of mercies, and the bestowing of…
March 5 “The fruit of the Spirit is…longsuffering…” (Gal. 5:22) Longsuffering is the virtue that bears up patiently and even triumphantly under the aggravations of life. While it may refer to a patient response to adverse circumstances, it usually refers to a merciful endurance of the provocations of people. God is longsuffering with man. Think…
March 4 “The fruit of the Spirit is… peace…” (Gal. 5:22) As soon as we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). That means that the hostility between ourselves and God has ceased since Christ has effectively dealt with the cause of that hostility—our sins. We…
March 3 “The fruit of the spirit is.. .joy.” (Gal. 5:22) Man never finds real joy till he finds the Lord. Then he enters in to what Peter calls “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). Anyone can rejoice when circumstances are favorable, but the joy which is the fruit of the Spirit…
March 2 “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” (Gal. 5:22) The phrase “the fruit of the Spirit” teaches us at the outset that the virtues that follow can be produced only by the Holy Spirit. An unconverted man is incapable of manifesting any of these graces. Even a true believer is powerless to reproduce…