LIVING BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Part 28).
Galatians 5. Verses 22-23 read:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such, there is no law.
The world that God desires for men can be attained when men make a choice to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to manifest the fruit of the Spirit in them. All men have a part to play to make this possible. It will take a switch from the domination of the dictates of the flesh unto the influence of the Spirit for this to happen. Today, we continue with the last three of the fruit of the Spirit. They are:
- Faith or faithfulness: Whereas scripture uses the word faith, it is actually in reference to faithfulness. The virtue of faithfulness does not operate in isolation. It operates together with goodness. Faithfulness refers to consistent practice of what is good. In the practice of faithfulness, men make acts of goodness their lifestyle, not an occasional act. Faithfulness produces men who are reliable. They stand by what they say and are committed to fulfilling them.
- Meekness: This refers to strength that is exercised under the control of the Holy Spirit. A meek person is one who, with all the power at his disposal, expresses humility and humanness in the exercise of power. Abuse and misuse of power are common in today’s world. God-given power is expected to be discharged in God’s way. Anything short of this leads to the undermining of power.
- Temperance: It is worth noting that provocation is inevitable in life. Secondly, every man has a tolerance threshold of provocation, beyond which he reacts. This threshold could be high or low. Temperance is the ability for one to put himself in check by the help of the Holy Spirit, not to react contrary to God’s will when provoked. Temperance is essential in helping men react right to the issues in life
Men who live by the fruit of the Spirit elevate their lives to the standards of God, and they reflect Christ in what they do. Once a man passes the test of God’s standards recorded in the fruit of the Spirit, no human law can legitimately charge him for wrongdoing. Let us endeavour to walk in the Spirit in order to manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏