Have you ever stopped to reflect on the 9 characteristics expressed in Galatians 5, called the fruit of the Spirit?”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. (Gal 5: 22. 23)
In this series of videos titled?9 per day? [9 per day], Chris Wright, international director of the Langham Partnership, invites us to meditate on each of these characteristics to become more Christlike.
- In this video.
- He ponders goodness or kindness.
- Showing how God is described as benign in the Old Testament and how Christ set an example for us to act with kindness even in the midst of successive interruptions.
“I think the essence of goodness is to be considerate of the people above you.
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If the video is not on the list of posts it is because it has not yet been published, the video will be released in turn.
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9 per day: patience, peace, joy, love, self-control, temperance, fidelity, kindness, kindness.
Blessing
Then we come to goodness, the next fruit of the Spirit in Paul’s list. I am sure you have heard of a girl praying at night: “Dear God, please make all evil people good and that all good people because goodness and goodness must go hand in hand. There’s a kind of kindness that can be so cold, analytical and moral, it’s not really very pretty. Therefore, Paul associates goodness with goodness in this way, and we will do so thinks first of all of goodness.
I believe that the essence of goodness is to be considerate of the people above you; it means a desire to encourage and help others, to meet their needs, to encourage them, sometimes even when it doesn’t suit you, or it may be costly. Sometimes it is said that kindness costs nothing, but sometimes it can be expensive. But it’s a wish to think, “In this situation, what would I like you to do for me?”And do it as an attitude or a word of kindness.
Let us first think of goodness as part of God’s character. In the Old Testament, there is a wonderful word the Israelites used a lot about God. In Hebrew, it is the word “khesed” and translates in different ways. Sometimes as love, or as fidelity, or fidelity, or mercy; but in older translations, the term “love kindness” was used, a beautiful term, and more often simply “nice. “That’s why the Israelites often sang it and celebrated it. Perhaps the most famous is the end of Psalm 23: “Goodness and Mercy “is the word goodness”, surely it will follow me every day of my life. “
Then, when the Apostle Paul wanted to speak to a group of people who had never heard of the only true God who lived in Iconium and Stripe, he chose this idea of God’s goodness in Acts 14:17 and said to them, God was “benign. “, giving you fruitful rains and seasons of heaven, filling your heart with abundance and joy. “Then, if God is so, then those who know and belong to God are called to show the same goodness to others.
Then we turn, secondly, to goodness like Jesus. For if goodness means caring for others above you, then surely Jesus was incarnate goodness, it was goodness on two legs. I have a friend who says he wants to write a biography of Jesus that he will call “A Theology of Interruptions” because he points out that many of the things that Jesus says and does that are recorded in the gospels happen. because someone interrupted him, when he was passing through a place. But Jesus was not offended by it, nor did He resist. He responded to these people kindly. Then think of the woman who touched him when Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter. Or the woman who anointed her feet at a banquet. Either Samaria’s wife, or the blind Bartimeus, or the parents who brought children to Jesus. Jesus is always kind to people who others would think are disturbing and interrupting Jesus. And even on the cross, Jesus thought of his mother, even above his own pain and suffering.
So, if that’s how Jesus was in his goodness, I wonder why I’m often not nice to others, partly because I don’t want to be interrupted, because I’m too busy, I have things to do and commitments to fulfill, so being late or interrupted to talk, talk or be nice to people is a little awkward, or maybe sometimes it’s because I protect myself I certainly think that when I travel a lot, when I’m in what my wife calls “airplane mode,” when I have to go places, I have to, I have to, I have to, and I don’t want anyone to bother me. And in those moments, I must remember: if I were Jesus, what would I do?How would you respond to those in need around you?Therefore, the goodness and character of Jesus must be formed in us. This brings us to the third point, goodness as a habit of life.
We must remember that here we are talking about the fruit of the Spirit, this kind of benevolence is not something that is born naturally, even if some people are naturally more benign than others, but Paul speaks of a kind of characteristic of life that comes from Jesus lives in us and produces this fruit of goodness in us, so goodness is a fruit that must be cultivated until it becomes a habit and part of our character, in which we become almost more natural in doing the benign than not doing so. ; or, at least, that it becomes very uncomfortable to do what is not benign, or not to speak or act kindly toward others.
So I wonder if, on a daily commute, or to work, at home or wherever we are, we should just stop and pray to God: God help me find these opportunities on this day when I can be kind to others. Is there someone I can thank in the market or on the street? Or someone you can value and make your life a little more tolerable. Where I can give a smile, or a word of thanks, praise, praise. help someone in need or poverty, or give something to their needs. How to be kind in action? It is the fruit of the Spirit.
The last thought here is that such Christian goodness is a very strong witness, because it is deeply attractive. Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop, said, “The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you. “we, thinking that goodness is the fruit of the Spirit, might mean, “The end result of goodness is that it attracts people to Jesus. “
By: Chris Wright. © Copyright The Langham Partnership. All rights are reserved. Used with permission. Website: http://www. 9aday. org. uk/
Let’s go back to the gospel (in partnership with O Tempora! Or Mores!) Original: Chris Wright?Kindness (9 a day? Becoming like Jesus) [6/10]
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