But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING (patience), GENTLENESS (kindness), GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS (gentleness), TEMPERANCE (self control); against such there is no law. (Galations 5:22-23)
As creatures of habit, we tend to go through life on autopilot. We often miss clues that indicate that our spirit is not enjoying the good health that the Most High created it for.
In the same way that the doctor puts us through a battery of tests to diagnose potential physical problems, The Most High has given us a process of evaluating spiritual problems in our lives:
Each of these is a characteristic of Rawachs active presence in our daily activities. Let’s look at each one and ask some diagnostic questions to make sure we’re healthy.
1. Love. This word for love doesn’t refer to warm feelings but to a deliberate attitude of good will and devotion to others. Love gives freely without looking at whether the other person deserves it, and it gives without expecting anything back.
Question: Am I motivated to do for others as Ahayah has done for me, or am I giving in order to receive something in return?
2. Joy. Unlike happiness, joy is gladness that is completely independent of the good or bad things that happen in the course of the day. In fact, joy denotes a supernatural gladness given by the Most High that actually seems to show up best during hard times. This is a product of fixing your focus on His purposes for the events in your life rather than on the circumstances.
Question: Am I experiencing a joy of life on a regular basis, or is my happiness dependent on things going smoothly in my day?
3. Peace. It’s not the absence of turmoil, but the presence of tranquility even while in a place of chaos. It is a sense of wholeness and completeness that is content knowing that the Most High controls the events of the day.
Question: Do I find myself frazzled by the crashing waves of turmoil in my life, or am I experiencing “the peace that passes all comprehension” (Philippians 4:6-7)?
4. Patience. Other words that describe this fruit are lenience, long-suffering, forbearance, perseverance, and steadfastness. It is the ability to endure ill treatment from life or at the hands of others without lashing out or paying back.
Question: Am I easily set off when things go wrong or people irritate me, or am I able to keep a godly perspective in the face of life’s irritations?
5. Kindness. When kindness is at work in a person’s life, he or she looks for ways to adapt to meet the needs of others. It is moral goodness that overflows. It’s also the absence of malice.
Question: Is it my goal to serve others with kindness, or am I too focused on my own needs, desires, or problems to let the goodness of the Most High overflow to others?
6. Goodness. While kindness is the soft side of good, goodness reflects the character of the Most High, Goodness in you desires to see goodness in others and is not beyond confronting or even rebuking (as Yashiya did with the money changers in the temple) for that to happen.
Question: Does my life reflect the holiness of the Most High and do I desire to see others experience him at a deep level in their own lives?
7. Faithfulness. A faithful person is one with real integrity. He or she is someone others can look to as an example, and someone who is truly devoted to others and to Christ. Our natural self always wants to be in charge, but Spirit-controlled faithfulness is evident in the life of a person who seeks good for others and glory for the Most High.
Question: Are there areas of hypocrisy and indifference toward others in my life, or is my life characterized by faith in Christ and faithfulness to those around me?
8. Gentleness. Meekness is not weakness. Gentleness is not without power, it just chooses to defer to others. It forgives others, corrects with kindness, and lives in tranquility.
Question: Do I come across to others as brash and headstrong, or am I allowing the grace of the Most High to flow through me to others?
9. Self-control. Our fleshly desires, Scripture tells us, are continually at odds with the Most High and always want to be in charge. Self-control is literally releasing our grip on the fleshly desires, choosing instead to be controlled by the Rawach. It is power focused in the right place.
Question: Are my fleshly desires controlling my life, or am I allowing the Spirit to direct me to the things that please the Most High and serve others?
10. Walk by the Spirit. While not a fruit of the Spirit, the final item on the checkup produces all nine qualities listed above. When we follow the Spirit’s lead instead of being led by our self-focused desires, He produces the fruit.
But even when we don’t walk by the Spirit, Rawach is the very one who convicts us that things are not in proper order in our lives.
The Most High promises that if we are willing to admit that we have been walking our own way and ask for His forgiveness and cleansing, He will empower us through His Spirit to live above ourselves and live the abundant life for which He has created us.
Question: Am I actively depending on Rawach to guide me in the Most High ways so I don’t get wrapped up in myself? If not, am I willing to confess to him that His ways are better than mine, and that I need Rawachs guidance to live above the fray?
some excerpt from http://www.wisconsinumc.org/resources/campaigns/live-the-fruit-of-the-spirit
