Gentleness

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

This week we are discussing gentleness. Definition of Gentle: Considerate, kind, tender; Not harsh or severe; Easily managed or handled. The words gentle and gentleness are not used very many times in the Bible. You'll see in our definition that there are three main aspects of gentleness that we will be dealing with. The dictionary gives a few others, but they are not pertinent here. Just like some of our previous fruits, gentleness is a characteristic of both God and Jesus. In II Sam. 22:36, King David said this about God, "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great." This is a great chapter; please read it some time. Paul said this about Jesus, in II Cor. 10:1, "Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:" People tend to think of gentleness as being a "woman thing", but it's pretty apparent that God expects it out of all of us. It doesn't mean to be a wimp or a pushover.

Paul gave Timothy some instructions on how a servant of the Lord is to behave: "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient," II Tim. 2:24. In writing to Titus, he said this: "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men." Titus 3:2. God doesn't want us to be going around always ready to jump into a fight, or an argument, with anyone that crosses us. Look how Paul and his companions behaved, "But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:" I Thes. 2:7. Where does gentleness come from? Is it something you are either born with, or not? NO. Like every other good thing, it comes down from God, and is delivered to us through His Word! "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17. "Wisdom that is from above" has to come from God's Word, because that's how He speaks to us. Among other things, it is gentle; so, when we have that Word abiding in us, we will increase in gentleness, too!

Kindness is probably the most well-known part of gentleness. If you look through the Old Testament, you will find many references to someone showing kindness. Most of them are when a warrior or king showed kindness to another nation or group of people; i.e., he let them live instead of killing them when he could have. In our day and age, God expects a little more kindness than that out of us. Look at this beautiful verse about God's kindness to His people, "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer." Isa. 54:8. Everlasting kindness; how about that? That is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible. Read it when you get a chance; it's short. As ladies, we have an extra bit of kindness to shoot for. "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Prov. 31:26. We have to watch those words. Keep them sweet and kind, not sharp and nasty!

The Apostle Paul suffered many things, but he sure did talk a lot about kindness. In II Cor. 6, he was describing how the people of the world are supposed to be able to recognize followers of Christ. Look at verse 6: "By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned," People are going to be looking for fruit on us. What will they find?

When he was writing to the Colossians, he was giving them some instructions for how to behave with each other, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Col. 3:12. We sure do want to be the elect of God and be holy and beloved in His sight! We're going to have to put up with each other's junk, and be kind, and forgive each other, because Jesus forgave us when we were sinful and rotten. The Apostle Peter also wrote somewhat about kindness. Look at this: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." II Pet 1:5-8. This list is pretty close to the Fruit of the Spirit list, but not in the same order. See that part about "giving all diligence"? That means it doesn't "just happen". We have to work at this. You know how? First, making sure we aren't carrying around sins that we haven't repented of yet. Then, we have to pray – daily. And study the Bible – daily. How else are you going to increase in knowledge if you don't go to the source of that knowledge and get some?! Then we have to take all that, and with the help of the good Lord above, put it into practice. It's not enough to read the Word, say "God, help me be good", and then go about your merry way doing as you please. We have to make the conscious effort to do these things.

OK, let's look real quick at that last part of the definition. "Easily managed or handled." What does this boil down to? Submission. Submitting to those who have authority over us. Not being ornery and cantankerous. And who might we be submitting to? First, God Almighty: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7. Then, we submit to the laws of our land, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;" II Pet. 2:13. Then, there are individual people we have to submit to. Our pastor, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." Heb. 13:17. Our boss, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." I Pet. 2:18. As wives, we submit to our husbands, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Eph. 5:22. The young submit to the elder, and we all submit to each other rather than fighting about everything, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble." I Pet. 5:5.

CHALLENGE: This week, let's start making a conscious effort to be gentle whenever we are given the opportunity. Let's each give ourselves an evaluation. Are we praying on a daily basis? Are we reading the Bible daily? Are we paying attention to how we act and how we treat those around us? Following the Lord Christ is not for wimps. It's not for the faint of heart or the weak. There is spiritual warfare to be fought. As our fruit-bearing increases, so will our strength. It takes some strength to be kind sometimes. It certainly takes strength to submit to those we don't want to submit to. But guess what? "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Psalm 28:7. Amen!

Thought for the Day

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. Psalm 65:9-13

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psalm 19:1

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8

Thought for the Day

What does it mean to be sober? There are several definitions. One of the most obvious is "Not drunk" (in a nutshell). The others can be pretty much summed up in this: "Being calm, quiet, serious; not loud or showy; not drawing attention to oneself".

In I Peter 3, Peter was addressing the wives, and instructing them in how to behave and dress. Look at verse 4: "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." If we have a meek and quiet spirit, that is part of being sober.

Being sober, or sobriety, does not mean that we have to go around with a long face, looking depressed all the time, though.

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. Proverbs 15:3

Thought for the Day

"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Matthew 12:28-31

I recently heard a wise woman say that you know you love someone when you are ready to spend the rest of your life making them happy. We can also apply this to loving the Lord God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Nothing pleases the Lord more than us keeping His commandments.

This is what Jesus said in John 14:15: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Are you ready to devote the rest of your life to pleasing the Lord?

Longsuffering

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

This week, we are taking a look at Longsuffering. We tend to kind of breeze over this fruit, when we're rattling off the list. I hadn't really given this one a lot of thought until putting this lesson together. This is definitely a fruit that I need to increase production of! Let's read the definition: "Long and patient endurance of injury, trouble, or provocation". Look at that first word: Long. Llloooonnnnggg! That tells us that being longsuffering takes more than thirty seconds. Then it says Patient. That implies that a good attitude is also involved. Next we see Endurance. Any time we see the word endure, we know it's talking about something we're not going to like very much. No one has to "endure" eating a juicy steak, or "endure" receiving a dozen roses! Look what we're enduring: Injury, Trouble, Provocation. Not fun! Personally, I don't know of anyone who loves injury, trouble, or provocation. Well, we don't have to love it, but we do have to get to the point where we endure it, with a good attitude, for a long time. Obviously this is not a fruit that will just pop out as soon as we get saved!

Why is it important to God that we be longsuffering? Because He is! Moses said in Num. 14:18, "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." God puts up with our junk for a long time, and forgives us if we repent; but He doesn't hold back on those that don't repent. Longsuffering is long, but it doesn't go on forever. This is what King David said about God in Psalm 86:15, "But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." God's mercy and longsuffering is what gives us time to see our sin and repent of it. Thankfully, He doesn't just snuff us out immediately!

There are several places in the Bible where the Apostle Paul exhorts us to have longsuffering. In Col. 3:12, he says, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" Keep in mind, our fruit is what other people see that tells them we are serving the Lord Christ. Remember when Jesus said, "By their fruit ye shall know them"? Well, it's by our fruit that people know us too. If we are part of God's elect, holy and beloved in His sight, we will be putting on these things, and one of them is longsuffering. Biting someone's head off at the slightest provocation or injury is not longsuffering. When he was writing to Timothy, Paul told him how he (Paul) was an example to his followers. "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience," II Tim. 3:10. "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." II Tim. 2:10. He also said this to Timothy, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." II Tim. 2:3. In other words, Don't be a wimp! Endure!

Another reason why longsuffering is so important is found in Eph. 4:1-3, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." As Christians, we make up the Body of Christ. Naturally, people rub each other the wrong way, and there is friction. But, if we are able to patiently endure the injuries, trouble, and provocation that we cause each other (i.e., be longsuffering with each other), we can keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's what keeps us stuck together in Christ, without fighting all the time.

It is the Lord's longsuffering with us that allows us to receive salvation. When we break His commandments and laws, it causes Him pain, and even provokes Him. But because He is merciful and longsuffering, He allows us to see the error of our ways and repent. Look what Paul said about this in Romans 2:4, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Here's what the Apostle Peter said about it in II Pet. 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us–ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Then, in verse 15, he said, "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;" Without that longsuffering, we wouldn't even have a chance of salvation.

CHALLENGE: This week, let's really take a look at ourselves, and see how we're doing in the longsuffering department. When someone says something that hurts our feelings, do we snap at them and do them injury in return? Do we get our hiney on our shoulder and walk around with an injured attitude the rest of the day? When something troubles us, or someone provokes us (makes us mad), do we start screaming, calling names, throwing things, or expressing the desire to shoot them with a grenade launcher? Keeping our lips zipped in these situations will help with the outward showing of longsuffering, but it takes prayer to keep the inward part calm. The part where the patience kicks in. Let's ask the Lord each day, to help us have more longsuffering. It's not an easy fruit to produce, but that probably makes it even more pleasing to the Lord. Look what Paul said in Col. 1:10-11, "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;" Look at that! We want to be worthy and pleasing to the Lord, and be fruitful, and increase in the knowledge of God. He will give us strength, according to His power (think about that: God has ALL the power, and will strengthen us with it, as much as we need!) Then we can have patience and longsuffering with joyfulness! There's that joy again. God will make it so that being longsuffering is not a torture for us! Look what He did for Abraham in Heb. 6:13-15, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." See that? Abraham had to patiently endure (be longsuffering) first. Then, he got the promise. Let's really make an effort, with the Lord's help of course, to patiently endure those small things that come our way to cause us injury, trouble, and provocation.

Thought for the Day

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:12-14


Psalm 51:1-13
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.


Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Thought for the Day

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.



1Timothy 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.


Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.


1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Are you content with what you have, or are you continuously scrabbling to get more? More money, more clothes, more shoes, more than your friends and neighbors. More house, more land, more car. Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us to be content with what He has given us.

Forgiveness

Jesus had a few things to say about forgiveness. In Matthew 5:23-24, He said, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” If you are reconciled to someone, it appears that someone had to forgive the other, right? (By the way, “Ought” means “anything”.)

Jesus also said this in Mark 11:25-26, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” That’s serious. If God our Father doesn’t forgive our trespasses, we can’t go to Heaven!

See what Jesus told the Apostle Peter: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22.

Do you know what keeps us from forgiving others? Usually, it’s pride. Our pride says, “He wounded me, and I won’t forget it!” Unfortunately, pride is on the list of things God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19; Proverbs 8:13.

When we don’t forgive, we become bitter, and bitterness is not pleasing to God. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-32.

Today, ask the Lord to help you to forgive those who have hurt you. If you know of someone who feels that you have slighted them in some way, ask their forgiveness too.

Thought for the Day

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

This does not mean we are all supposed to go get jobs in the construction industry. Neither does it mean that we all get to have a house built to our specifications!

It means that if we are wise, we will contribute to the stability of our homes. Our husbands, if we're married, will be able to trust us and depend on us to carry our share of the load. We will do all in our power to keep our marriages strong. Our homes, whether they be mansions or camper trailers, will be refuges of peace.

But, if we are foolish, we will gripe and complain. We will let the house fall down around our heads, and our husbands will choose to be anywhere but home.

How do we get that wisdom? "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." Prov. 9:10.
Then what will happen? "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Prov. 31:30.

Thought for the Day

Psalm 34:14-17


14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
(Why?)
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
(Praise God!)
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
(If He didn't, we would have no hope!)


As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:31, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"


Amen and Amen!

Peace

We are continuing our study of the Fruit of the Spirit. They are found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

The word Peace has several different meanings, and is used in different ways throughout the Bible. If you look it up in a concordance, you’ll see many instances where the phrase “held his peace” or something similar is used. This just means someone kept their thoughts to themselves, rather than speaking. Peace was included in greetings and parting words, also. “Peace be unto you” and “Go in peace” are used quite often throughout the Bible. One of the sacrifices God required of the Israelites was a peace offering, and throughout the Old Testament, you’ll see references to different nations or groups of people who made peace with each other, i.e., they agreed not to fight and kill each other. These are all good, but we’re going to dwell on the kind of peace that comes as a Fruit of the Spirit. This is the kind of peace that comes as a result of having surrendered our will to the will of the Lord. Let’s read our definition right now.

Peace: The absence of mental stress or anxiety. Inner contentment; serenity.

The absence of conflict

Peace is given to us by the Lord, and the longer we serve Him and walk in His ways, the more peaceful we will become. This is not to say that we won’t have circumstances that cause us stress or anxiety. We will have plenty of those; but, we can have peace, knowing that our lives are in the loving hands of the Almighty God, and He is in control of all that happens to us. Look what King David said in Psalm 4:8, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” This from a man who spent years running for his life! The Apostle Paul also instructed us not to fret over things, but to let God handle them. Phil. 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This kind of careful means full of care, or worry. Paul is telling us, “Don’t fret and worry; pray and ask God for what you need, with thanks”, and God will give us the best kind of peace there is!

To get this wonderful peace, though, we must first repent of all sin in our lives, and be doing our best, with the Lord’s help, to live every day without sin. God doesn’t hand out His perfect peace to just anybody! Isa 48:22: “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” Psalm 37:37 shows the other side, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Also, see what Paul had to say about it in Romans. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Rom. 5:1) and “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6). Being justified through faith (that is how we get saved) and being spiritually minded (being conscious of the Lord in our daily life) will give us peace! This leads us to the next point.

If we are going to have peace, our minds cannot stay cluttered up with a constant stream of worldly things (carnality). Books, music, TV, MySpace; they are all good (or can be; should be!) and have their place, but we absolutely must spend time thinking on the Lord and His Word. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” If we blunder through our days, with never a thought to God or His Word, we will be so full of fears and anxiety, we won’t even be able to put our trust in the Lord, because we won’t have any faith left. Proverbs 3:1-2 says, “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” God’s law and commandments are in our Bible, so if we read it, remember it and do it, we will get added peace! Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” This doesn’t mean we will never get mad; that part of the verse is for another lesson! If we love God’s Word we will make sure we are getting some of it every day, and it will give us great peace! How awesome is that!

Another aspect of this Fruit of the Spirit peace is living our lives with a minimum of conflict. This does not mean that we are supposed to lay down and be a doormat for everyone that wants to wipe their dirt on us. Paul put it pretty clearly in Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” There are occasions when we have to stand our ground and fight; we can not let evil prevail. However, those occasions don’t arise every day in our normal lives. Many times, in Proverbs, we are cautioned against being a “brawling woman” or a “contentious woman”. Nobody wants to be around a woman who always wants to argue and fight. A man would rather live in a barn with cows! (We could do another whole lesson on that, too!) The Lord doesn’t want us stirring the pot all the time (and I don’t mean cooking!) He wants us to seek for peace. Look what Paul said in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” James had this to say, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” James 3:18. When you make peace, you are sowing seeds of righteousness; righteousness will grow from this! Then looks what happens: “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isaiah 32:17. Psalm 34:14 says, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” This kind of peace doesn’t just happen; we have to MAKE it and SEEK it. Human nature wants to fight every time we feel slighted or mistreated even a little bit. This is part of the “old woman” that we have to crucify every day. We have to ask the Lord to help us nail down that part of us that wants to constantly play the victim and make us, and everyone around us, miserable.

Jesus, through His death and resurrection, made it possible for us to have peace. He paid the price to remove our sins, which allows us access to God, and eternity in Heaven. Look how Isaiah said it in chapter 53, verse 5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” That is so beautiful; read it again. While Jesus was here, He said some things that can give us peace and comfort, if we’ll hold on to them. In John 14:27, He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Then, in John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We will have trouble and sorrow and tribulation, here on earth, but through Jesus we can also have peace, because the bad things are temporary.

CHALLENGE: This week, we’ll continue our daily evaluation (Do we have any sin in our lives that we need to get rid of; how did we do on being loving today; did we make time to read the Bible; did we offer praise to the Lord, so we can increase our joy?) Let’s add to that. Pick out a scripture passage about peace, and memorize it. It can be one from this lesson, or any other one that you like. Several times each day, repeat it to yourself. You don’t have to do it out loud. A good way to remember is to say your verse to yourself every time you are in the restroom! God wants us to have peace. “The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” Psalm 29:11. “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” II Peter 3:14. Let’s do all we can to make our Peace fruit grow!

Joy

We are continuing our study of the Fruit of the Spirit. They are found in Galatians 5:22-23. The Fruit of the Spirit are important, because it is by them that other people see that we belong to the Lord. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-20.

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*Faith*

*Meekness*Temperance*

This week, we are taking a look at joy. Read the definition.

Definition of Joy: Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.

Joy is not just plain old happiness; it is something much deeper than that. Joy is something you can have even when things are going badly, even though you’re not happy at that moment. Unlike some of the other fruits of the Spirit, joy is not something you can practice, or work harder at. It’s something you just have. Or don’t have. However, there are ways to get more!

How do we get joy? There are various events in our life that bring us joy, like getting married and having babies, but we’re talking about the Joy that comes from the Lord; the Fruit of the Spirit Joy. We first receive joy when we get saved; repenting of our sins and asking forgiveness from the Lord fills us with great joy. Read Psalm 51 right now. Look what King David said about it in verse 12, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” This was after he had sinned by taking Uriah’s wife and having him killed. David knew that if the Lord cleansed him from his sin, he would have joy again. Look what else he said about this, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11. We have to have our sins removed to be in God’s presence, and look how wonderful it is! The Apostle Paul also told us what our joy is, in Romans 5:11, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Neither David nor Paul had easy, carefree lives. David had wars, royal-family intrigues, and enemies, yet even with all that, he had joy from the Lord! Paul spent his time traveling by very grueling means, preaching and starting churches, writing lengthy letters to his followers, and trying to stay alive. He wasn’t always successful at the latter, having died once and come back. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned, and wound up getting executed, but look what he told one of the churches he wrote to: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” I Thes. 2:19. Even with all that, his joy was in serving the Lord, knowing that at Jesus’ return, he would be in the Lord’s presence.

Just like a peach tree, as we get older (more mature in Christ), the amount of fruit we are able to produce increases. So, as we get more knowledge and wisdom, and more experience in the Lord, other things will add to our joy. When we first get saved, we have such a hunger for the things of God, and just want to devour His Word. Hearing the Bible preached, as well as studying it on our own, and memorizing it adds to our joy. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jer. 15:16. See what Jesus Himself told us “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11.

Another thing that adds to our joy is having a need, and receiving help from the Lord. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24. Jesus told us that if we need something, all we have to do is ask God, in Jesus name, and He will grant it to us, and we will have full joy! Of course, this does not include lottery winnings and things like that. We still can’t ask for stuff to “consume it on our own lusts”. But that’s a different lesson!

As a parent, I can assure you that these next two scripture verses are so true! “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4. “The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.” Prov. 23:24. Likewise, having a child that is not serving the Lord, not walking in truth, and making foolish choices, is a heartbreaking and grievous thing for a parent.

There are numerous passages in the Bible that speak of joy, many of them dealing with the expression of that joy, primarily through praise, singing, dancing (to the Lord!), etc. Let’s take a good look at ourselves this week. Do we have joy in our souls, even in the midst of troubles. Do we let cares of this life steal our joy from us? The devil takes pleasure in stealing our joy, which is another reason to resist him and make him flee! Read what King David had to say in Psalm 5:11, “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” This is what David and his people did when they were getting things together for Solomon to build the temple: “Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.” I Chron. 29:9. King David was a praising man; that is evidenced by the Psalms that he wrote also. He obviously had great joy, in spite of his troubles, because he wrote about it a lot. Lesson to be learned: PRAISE THE LORD! It is a fact of human nature that our feelings follow our actions, at least most of the time. If you don’t feel like doing something, and act as if you do, your feelings will usually turn around and you will end up feeling like it. In other words, even if you aren’t feeling especially worshipful, praise the Lord anyway, and you will feel it shortly! You don’t have to jump around and make a spectacle of yourself to praise Him. Take time each day this week to worship the Lord. Thank Him for all the great things He’s given you and done for you. Tell Him how wonderful He is; He loves to hear it, and even has special angels in Heaven whose only job is to tell Him how good and holy He is. Don’t have a hunger in your heart for the Bible any more? Read it anyway! The more you get into it, the tastier it is. David said it was sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb, and Honey, that’s sweet! Need help resisting the devil? The joy of the Lord is our strength!

CHALLENGE: Let’s keep working on expressing love this week, and let’s seek more Joy from the Lord. Pray today and ask Him for it! Make sure you aren’t carrying around unrepented sins; have to get rid of those to get the joy. Worship the Lord daily; you can do this in song too, as long as you really mean it and aren’t just repeating words. Dig into the Bible daily; this is your food source. How long can your body go without eating, a couple days? Don’t let your soul starve to death! Starving peach trees do not make fruit!

Love

Our first lesson will begin a look into the Fruit of the Spirit. They can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. The Fruit of the Spirit are important, because it is by them that other people see that we belong to the Lord. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-20.

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*Faith*

*Meekness*Temperance*

Definition of Love: A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. Affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor. The benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.

This week we will focus on Fruit #1, Love. Everybody loves love! We have love for our family & friends, love for our husbands (or boyfriends, depending on marital status), love for food or flowers or entertainment, love for animals. And, hopefully, most important, love for God.

I Corinthians 13 is probably the most well-known passage of scripture dealing with love. It speaks of charity, or Christian love, which is not love for pizza, or puppies, or petunias; it is love for people, the way God says for us to love them and the way He loves us. Turn right now to I Cor. 13, and read it through one time, before you go on. It’s short! OK, done? Now, let’s look at some of the ways we show love to people.

Here’s a biggie: we show our love for someone by being unselfish and putting their needs ahead of our own. Look at verses 4 & 5 :”Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;” Another reference that teaches about this is Phillipians 2:4 “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Do we concentrate on our own personal happiness, or do we look for opportunities to make those we love happy?

Another way we exhibit our love is by being kind. There it is in verse 4: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind”. Also, take a look at Eph. 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Being kind isn’t always easy, but we can do it! It mostly means, think before you speak, and stop before you say those hurtful words. Proverbs 31:26 says this about a virtuous woman: “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Do we treat people with kindness, or do we say cruel and hurtful things without thinking? Are we always having to apologize for things we’ve done and said? There are more verses that talk about this, but we can’t fit the whole Bible in one lesson!

Lets look at verse 6 now: “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” The main truth is God’s Word. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. We know that Jesus was God’s Word made flesh (John 1). David said in Psalm 119:97 “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Hearing the Word of God should make us rejoice. Reading it should be a blessing, not something we dread. Do we look forward to time spent with our Savior reading the Bible? We also need to be sure that we speak the truth, and that we don’t rejoice to hear falsehood spoken of others. We can show our love for God by rejoicing in His truth, and for others by speaking the truth to them and about them, with discretion of course. Not all things that are true need to be spoken out loud!

How else do we demonstrate our love for the Lord? Here’s the biggest way: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Those are the words of Jesus, in John 14:15. Plain and simple. Not always easy; but simple. In John 15:10, Jesus also said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” The Bible is full of commandments for us, but Jesus summed them up in two, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matt. 22:37-39.

CHALLENGE! This week, let’s take time at the end of each day to think back over the things we’ve done and said. Have we been self-serving, or have we been giving? Have we put our own things first, or did we look out for someone else’s happiness? When we opened our mouth, did kindness come out, or a piercing sword? Did we spend time in God’s Word, or did we put it off again and do something else instead? Did we sin against the Lord? Did we love our neighbors as much as we loved ourselves? Let’s ask the Lord to forgive us of our shortcomings, and help us as we make a conscious effort to do better tomorrow.