Love Joy Peace
Patience Kindness Goodness
Faithfulness Gentleness
Self-Control
These are the Fruits of the Spirit
Have you noticed that as we went through this series, each fruit of the spirit related to one another. It was hard to disconnect the attributes from one another and focus on just one attribute at a time. Maybe it should be called the Fruit Salad of the Spirit. Each fruit complements each other well. I wonder what the marinade is. The Spirit, perhaps? I am sorry, too corny? Oops.
Self-control is the last on the list and I think that is the most perfect spot for self-control.
We, ourselves, control how we show love.
We, ourselves, control where our joy comes from.
We, ourselves, control if we exercise patience with one another.
We, ourselves, control the gentleness of our words.
We, ourselves, need to be disciplined to have self-control.
If I may be corny again. Our marinade, or the Holy Spirit, is what helps us have those nine qualities. It is what keeps us rooted in the Spirit.
Self-control is the opposite of pride. It exudes humility. Self-control is knowing how to control your thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
At the bottom of this website, 2 Timothy 1:7 is found. Maybe even providentially founded. When the three of us decided to use 2 Timothy 1:7, we were not necessarily thinking of self-control but it fits. At least, I wasn’t.
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
The purpose of Bold, Strong, & Free started because one day, three strangers formed a book club and through that book club, three strangers became friends. Three friends stayed up late talking about all things, including our desires to be bold, to be strong, and to be free for Christ. But hold on. The scriptural passage does not end with possessing a spirit of power and love. But with a sound mind. A quick Google search would tell you that sound mind is a person’s state of being at a time, when someone is alert and sober and is able to make good, informed decisions. Often times, we hear the words “of sound mind and body” at Will readings. It means that the deceased person was alert and sober and could think rationally at the time of writing the Will. The person was not under any influence of any kind or being coerced into doing something against their will.
Self-control is that as well.
Self-control is being able to control how you feel, how you think, and how you react. It is there when we feel the pull of Love towards another, weighing the costs if we ought to proceed. It is there when Joy pulses through all around us, self-control tells us how to react. It is there as we sit in traffic, irritation creeping up but self-control brings in Patience. It is there when the world is out to get us, reminding us to see the Goodness. It is there to keep us calm as Faithfulness and Gentleness washes over us in times of need.
We have these 9 fruits of the Spirit to show us how to live, what sort of principles and values we ought to have. But what really makes the fruits work is the marinade – the Holy Spirit. After all when I make a fruit salad, I like having some sort of dressing to blend the different flavors into one.
Elizabeth