DAY 301 – TEMPTATION FIGHTS THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Every time you defeat temptation, you become more like Jesus. How is Jesus Christ, exactly? How is his character? Well, apart from being powerful - working miracles like healing the sick, calming the raging storms and raising the dead, is there anything else by which we can define him? One of the most precise and concise descriptions of his character is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we have fully matured into the stature of Jesus Christ, we will have all the fruit of the Spirit. There are nine fruit of the Spirit. “When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23 These nine qualities portray a beautiful description of Jesus Christ. And to have all these qualities in one person is to be like Christ in every respect. How, then, does the Holy Spirit produce these nine fruit in your life? Does he create them instantly? Will you wake up one day and be suddenly filled with these characteristics fully developed? NO! Not at all. Fruit always matures and ripens slowly – it takes time. God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality. God teaches us love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you. God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to him. God develops real peace within us – not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid. God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice to grow. You can’t claim to be good if you’ve never been tempted to be bad. Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest. Endurance and patience are developed every time you reject the temptation to give up. Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus!
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:56:28 +0000
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