Fruits of the Holy Spirit : Nine Virtues of CHRIST

FRUITS OF THR HOLY SPIRIT : NINE GREAT VIRTUES OF CHRIST

But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. " Galatians 5: 22-23

If a person is filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit then all the virtues in Galatians 5 :22-23 will be clearly manifested in that person's life. The nine virtues in this passage are actually the nine great virtues of Christ. As we are controlled by the Holy Spirit , God imparts these virtues to us

. LOVE

The Holy Spirit imparts to us the virtue of LOVE. I Corinthians 13 describes true Christlike love. Love radiates from a spirit filled person. A church which is truly spirit filled overflows with love. A distinguishing mark of a true disciple of Christ is love. As it is written in John 13:35 :"All men will know that you are m disciples, if you love one another." The New Testament church is truly a spirit-filled church which overflows with love as it is ahown in Acts 4:32-34. Love flows out spontaneously from a spirit-filled person, both love for God and love for men. It is Christ's love for both God and men the one that led him to calvary, love for God's glory and perfect will and love for man's eternal soul. God's love is the ultimate reason for the incarnation and crucifixion of the Son of God.

JOY

A spirit-filled person has joy on his heart. Joy and pleasure are two different things. A person maybe suffering from a chain of misfortune but still have joy in his heart. Like the Apostle Paul, though suffered greatly , endured so much tribulation for the sake of the Gospel, never lost his joy as a christian. In contrary ,a person maybe full of earthly pleasures,but still does not have real joy in his heart. Like the rich people who are living apart from the ways of God, they may have lots of pleasures in this world because of their material possessions, but you will still hear some of them who despite of afflurnce are not still happy. It is because the joy of the Lord is not present in their lives.

PEACE

Another wonderful virtue imparted to us b the Holy Spirit is PEACE, which is actually the peace of Jesus Christ as it is written in John 14:27 ; " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives." Despite the uncertainties of the future, despite the various problems attacking our economy, despite the present upheavals in our society, a spirit-filled Christian could still remain relaxed, calm, serene. Because the peace of JesusChrist is in his heart. One perfect example in the life of Christ demonstrating his peace was during the coming of a battalion of soldiers to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane. A large group of soldiers armed with swords and clubs came to arrest him that night of his betrayal. Jesus yielded himself freely to them. That is the perfect peace of JesusChrist.

LONGSUFFERING

Longsuffering is synanimous to patient and enduring. Longsuffering is one of the virtues possessed by God so by Christ also. God was longsuffering to Israel , as JesusChrist was longsuffering to his disciples. The disciples during their early life with Jesus were still carnal. Jesus has been very longsuffering in dealing with them. As Christians, longsuffering must be one of our virtues. We must be longsuffering with the weaknesses of out brothers and sisters in the faith. We must be longsuffering with the people we are leading to Christ.

KINDNESS

Kindness is synanimous to compassion, generosity, goodness of heart, goodness in deeds or actions. The virtue is very much present in the person of the Father and so with the person of JesusChrist, JesusChrist has shown great kindness to a lot of people surrounding him during his sojourn here on earth. He has shown kindness by healing their infirmities, their disabilities and physical defects, by feeding them and by teaching them the ways of God. As we become controlled by the Holy Spirit, true kindness radiates from us . We become more considerate to people,we become compassionate to the needy, to the lost. That is why many are driven to missions because this fruit of the Holy Spirit is greatly imparted to them.

GOODNESS

According to Jesus, only one possess this virtue, and that is God as he counsel the rich young ruler. How does goodness differ from kindness? The word is synanimous to suitable or worthy. The term is also used for the servant who invested well his resources. He is called good and faithful servant. It also indicates that something is functioning well. If we said that this watch is no good anymore, it won't keep track of the right time any longer. Jesus said that a good tree produces goof fruit, that is the tree functions properly. Something is good when it works. Jesus constantly produced and He never failed. His teachings made a lasting and profound impressions. Goodness is one of the virtues impart to us by the Holy Spirit. We could only function well as Christian if we allow the Holy Spirit to control us. We can become the good trees that produce good fruits as the Holy Spirit controls us.

FAITHFULNESS

God was faithful in fulfilling his promise to Abraham. He is ever faithful to Israel. Jesus was faithful in his love for his disciples. Jesus is faithful to his promises. Jesus showed his faithfulness to the scripture and to the will of the Father until his death on the cross.He is faithful as High Priest. Jesus calls Himself the Faithful Witness. He is the standard of faithfulness by which we measure ourselves. God is ever faithful to us at all times though sometimes we fail. As we are filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit, the virtue is reflected upon us. We also become faithful to him. We become faithful to our commitment to others. Faithfulness in not inherent in man, it is only a God-given virtue.

GENTLENESS

Gentleness is synanimous to meekness. Jesus claimed meekness for himself and significantly coupled it with being "lowly in heart." His meekness is worthy of our imitation. Meekness of a Christian is displayed by accepting God's dealings with us as good without any resistance. This is a display of lowliness before God and humility before men.

SELF-CONTROL

Self-control is a discipline, but it cannot be imposed from an outside source. Self-control cannot be achieved by training rather self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual Christian has this quality, not as a result of will power or effort but as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in his lives. Jesus excercised much self-control during his earthly life. A spirit-controlled Christian has self-control in all aspects of his/her life. He has self-control in his thoughts, words, deeds, emotions. he knows well how to handle his emotions and thoughts. He is an emotionally mature person.