Month: November 2025

We continue our journey through the fruit of the Spirit.  Next up, the fruit of faithfulness.  If we are to imitate the characteristics of God and faithfulness is a characteristic of God, we need to know what the fruit of faithfulness looks like.  How is it displayed, you know, how is our path marked?  Is it littered with faithfulness?  

We need to first understand what faithfulness is and is not.   The Word explains faith to us, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation.  God’s faithfulness is revealed and His desire for our faithfulness is revealed.  The Word says — God will never leave us or forsake us, even when we walk away from Him.  God is always with us, even when we don’t feel Him.  God keeps His promises, even when we don’t.  God is always working, even when we don’t see it and doubt Him.  God is devoted to us, even when we are not devoted to Him.  God is loyal to us, even when we are disobedient to Him.  God is trustworthy, even when we break our promises.  God is reliable, even when He can’t count on us.  God is everything we are not and everything we long to be – God is faithful.

Galatians tells us that when the Holy Spirit controls our lives faithfulness is one of the fruit produced.  We’ve talked throughout our study of the fruit about the necessity of the Holy Spirit to actually work the fruit in our lives.  The Spirit grows faithfulness, not man.  We cannot will ourselves to be faithful, we cannot hope our way into being faithful, we cannot want our way into being faithful.  Faithfulness, as with all the fruit of the Spirit are a result and can only be produced through our relationship with Jesus Christ, through our Helper, the Holy Spirit.  To think that faithfulness is something we can be without the help of the Spirit is completely…well, just wrong thinking.  Only when the Spirit is controlling our lives can we exhibit the fruit of faithfulness.  Only when we understand that our faith is enabled only by God, can we understand and sing at the top of our lungs:

“Great is Thy faithfulness, ” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness, ” Lord, unto me!

God’s faithfulness to us is not dependent on us.  But our faithfulness to Him is dependent on Him.  Our faithfulness can only come by God’s work in our heart.  It is God’s faithfulness to us that delivers us.  Do we pray for God to work in our hearts?  To grow faithfulness in us?

Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news –
the Good News about Christ.
Romans 10:17

Wednesday
Read 1 Corinthians 3.  Write down Apollos and Paul’s roles in the planting of faith.  What is God’s role in the planting of faith?

Thursday
Read 1 John 5:1-11.  What is the victory?  Who achieves the victory?  How is the victory achieved?

Friday
Look up Colossians 3.  How do we live this new life in Christ?  How do we live faith?  Where are the Words of Christ to live?

Saturday
Read Ephesians 6:10-18.  How are we to use our faith?  Against what are we to use our faith?

Sunday
Read Genesis 17:1. What instructions does the Lord give to Abraham?  Was Abraham faithful to God?  How was Abraham faithful to God?  From the beginning…

Monday
…to the end of the Word, God speaks of faithfulness.  His faithfulness to us and our faithfulness to Him.  Read Revelation 19:11-21.  What was the symbol of the white horse?  What is the rider of the white horse called?  Who is riding the white horse?

Tuesday
Read Lamentations 3.  Memorize Lamentations 3:22-24.

We’ve been working on the fruit of the Spirit for a few weeks and you’re probably thinking it will never end.  Take heart — we’re over half-way through!   The beauty of the fruit is that none of them cost us a penny, they cost much more, our hearts.  All these fruit reflect the character of God, all things we could not be without Him.  None of these fruit are a result of this world.  If they are present without the Spirit living within, they are superficial and disingenuous.  When the winds of life blow, without the Spirit abiding within us, these fruit will be temporal.  If we are not powered by God, we are powered by another god of this world, namely, ourselves.

Every step on God’s pathway represents a deliberate choice to follow Him.
Charles Stanley

Next up on our exploration of the marks we leave behind on our life path, is the fruit of goodness.  Remember, this is very similar to the fruit of kindness, but the fruit of goodness is not quite the same. The difference is slight but evident.  You’re probably thinking the same thing that I did – well I’m a good person, I do good things, you know — it’s all good.  Good is a hard word.  Hard to define.  Hard to live.

Goodness, the act of being good.  So, what is it?  Dictionary.com has more than 49 definitions for the word good.  Some are — satisfactory, morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, pious, kind, high quality, high moral standard, excellence, satisfaction, approval, the extent to which something is right or wrong, it speaks to conduct, it is the opposite of bad and the opposite of evil.  

The word good or goodness, is used over 100 times in the Bible.  Biblical definitions of good or goodness are — a good thing, honorable, upright and acceptable to God.

The Greek word for good agathos means –  inherently (what’s within us) good; as to the believer, it is goodness that originates from God and is only powered by Him through our faith in Him.  It is closely related to the Greek word kalos.  The definition of kalos makes it all clear.  Kalos — beautiful, as an outward sign of the inward good, noble, honorable character; good, worthy, honorable, noble, and seen to be so.

What in the world does all that mean?  Well, actually, it’s out of this world!  Goodness means the good within us, that can only come from God, being outwardly revealed by who we are and what we do!  Goodness is an outward sign of our inward heart. Phew-wee-baby, it took a while to get around to that, didn’t it? 

He gave His only son…
John 3:16

God’s heart was revealed in the giving of His Son, the outward sign of  His inward heart.   God’s goodness was revealed in the giving of His Son.  The fruit of the Spirit are the attributes of God. As followers of Christ we must reflect those attributes, including the fruit of goodness.  So, how’s your heart?  Is your life an outward sign of your inward heart?  Is that good or bad?

Wednesday
Read 2 Corinthians 5.  Verses 1-9 are more talk about new clothing.   Since Bible folks wore robes, the references to new clothing are significant to me.  They all essentially wore the same thing.  I would think changing, and putting on new clothes, would be radical to them.  Change your clothes – what do you mean change my clothes – be different – seek eternity – God has prepared us for this and as a promise, a guarantee, He has sent the Holy Spirit to live in us.  It always goes back to Who is living within us.  The fruit of the Spirit are dependent on the Spirit!

Thursday
Read again 2 Corinthians 5.  Check out verse 10.  Scary!?!  But true.  We will all stand before God and receive what we deserve for the good or evil we have done here on earth.  Truth.  Eternal life is a free gift but it doesn’t free us “to” it frees us “from” which frees us “to.”  Huh?  Eternal life frees us to do good because we have been freed from evil to do good.  Get it?  We will all stand before Christ but free will allows us to choose how it’s going to go down.  We cannot talk about God’s goodness without also acknowledging our evilness and our need to change clothes.

Friday
Read Psalm 86.  God’s goodness is not dependent on circumstance.  God is just not good in good circumstances, God is good all the time.  God is not just present when things are going good.  God is present all the time showing us His goodness in our bad circumstances.

Saturday
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18.  More talk of change.  More and more like Him.  More and more fruit to live – more and more good within so that there can be goodness without.  Proverbs 27:19 is a great reminder – memorize it.

Sunday
Read Romans 12.  Verse 2 tells us by changing the way we think that we will know what God wants us to do.  We will see how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.  We will see how good God is.  A changed mind will mirror God’s image. 

Monday
Study Romans 12.  Make a list from these verses of ways we can reflect God’s goodness.  You know the “dos” and the “bes.”

Tuesday
Pray today that God will open up opportunities for you to reflect his image to others.  Pray that God shows you ways today to leave on your life’s path the fruit of goodness, the outward signs of your inward heart.  A heart for good.  A heart for God.

Kindness, next up on our fruit of the Spirit march.  The fruit of Kindness.  Are we Kind?  It’s a little bit of an old-fashioned word, isn’t it?  We don’t use it much or hear it much these days.  But it’s really a cool word.  I’ve always thought it was like the ultimate compliment, you know, they’re so Kind.  It just has a celestial ring to me.  Kind.  Being Kind.  Kindness.

So, what is Kind, exactly?  Kind tends to get lumped in with good and while trying to separate their meanings seems like splitting hairs, they are listed as separate fruit – there must be a difference, even if very subtle.  The dictionary defines Kind as “a good or benevolent nature or disposition.”  We understand good to mean praiseworthy character, virtuous, righteous, the opposite of bad.  Look at the next word.  Benevolent.  What’s that? It’s compassionate, a helper, charitable, the opposite of selfish, mean, stingy, unkind.  Look at the next words, nature or disposition.  That’s our character, our attitude, our inclination, what we’re partial to.  A word that we’ve experienced that is closely related to Kindness is merciful.  Hmmm… The Lord has certainly been Kind to us, hasn’t He?

If I had to pick characters in the Bible that best describe Kindness, today I think I’d have to pick the folks in the Book of Ruth.  We might also be able to call it the Book of Kindness.  The three main characters, Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, all displayed immeasurable Kindness.  So, we head there, grab your Bible.

We’re going to learn this week how both of Naomi’s sons married Moabite women.  How Naomi thought both her daughters-in-law treated her sons with Kindness – how many mothers-in-law would say that?  Just kidding guys… We’ll see how Naomi’s Kindness opened the eyes of one of her daughters-in-law to worship God.  We’ll see how that daughter-in-law, Ruth, showed Kindness to Naomi and Boaz.  We’ll see how Boaz showed Kindness to Naomi and Ruth.  It’s like one big Kindnessfest!  But keep in mind where this Kindness came from  –  Kindness means a good or benevolent nature or disposition.  Remember what we read last week in Colossians?  We must put on a new nature, we must strip off our old evil nature and put on some new clothes – a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as we learn more about Christ, as we keep in step with the Spirit’s call to know and be in the will of God.  Kindness does not come naturally, we’re not born Kind – we’re reborn Kind – we put on the Kindness of Christ.

Wednesday
Read the Book of Ruth.  It’s four short chapters.  As you read, write down the names of the people in the story.  Look up the meanings of the names of these people.  See anything interesting?

Thursday
Review the Book of Ruth.  Write down how many times the word Kind or Kindness is used.

Write down each act of Kindness that you see. 

Friday
Study Ruth 1:16-17.  What caused Ruth to be so loyal to Naomi?  In what way did Ruth declare her loyalty?  Read 2 Samuel 15.  Note the similarities between Ruth and Ittai and Naomi and King David.  What’s the common denominator?

Saturday
Just as Ruth is the heroine of the Book of Ruth, Boaz is introduced as the hero of the Book of Ruth in Chapter 2.  Look at Boaz’s character, his words, his actions.  What kind of person was Boaz?  What was Naomi’s response when she learned of Boaz? 

Sunday
Look at Chapter 3.  What’s happening here?  What is Ruth asking?  How does she ask it?  What is Boaz’s response?  What is Boaz’s promise to Ruth.  How does he guarantee that promise?

Monday
Read Chapter 4:13-22 and  Matthew 1:5.  Who was Boaz?  Who were his parents?  Who were his children?  What was his heritage?   Would the family line have looked different if Boaz had not displayed Kindness to Ruth and Naomi?  How so?

Tuesday
The Kindnesses of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, along with their faithfulness, obedience, and the Lord’s blessings resulted in God’s will being done.  Naomi, Ruth and Boaz moving forward without Kindness would have changed the outcome of their story.  Reread the Book of Ruth and be reminded of the Kindnesses displayed and the results of those Kindnesses.  Just like the players in the Book of Ruth, we must too be charitable, benevolent, compassionate, merciful to others, no matter how difficult.  Naomi, Ruth and Boaz all had difficult life circumstances to overcome.  Pray today that the Holy Spirit would take over your heart and enable you to change your story, to exude Kindness even in difficult times, something that cannot be done without the indwelling of the Spirit.  Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet Heavenly Dove, stay right here with us filling us with your Kindness.

Patience.  Something I have very little of.  How about you?  Well patience is up next on our Fruit of the Spirit journey.  I thought about combining some of the fruit to move this study along but decided to do so would be reacting to my impatience.  You know, my eagerness to move to the next lesson without living in and learning in the current lesson.  So, Patience it is.

What is Patience?  I’ve wrestled with this word a bit trying to figure out what it really means and what it looks like applied.  I went backwards, you know, figure out what something isn’t in order to figure out what something is?  I know that what it is not is some of the things I am.  I’m anything but patient.  I’m impatient.  I’m eager.  I’m anxious.

We think patience is inaction,
but can it not be the highest form of action?

Waiting seems to cause much impatience.  Why so?  For me it’s because I’m a zoomer.  I zoom from this to that.  You know, room to room, task to task, thought to thought, fix to fix, control to control (ugh!!!).  The problem with being a zoomer is that it is reactionary.  Reacting can cause anger, frustration, anxiety, obstinance, insistence, impatience!   You can probably name a few of your own reactions.  Unfortunately for us, all of those reactions are wrong, and if acted on, sinful – ouch — I’m sinful on a daily basis.  Let’s see what our Creator has to say about patience:

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12

Clears it right up, doesn’t it?  Anybody else feel like they need some new clothes?  Sometimes His commands are just so simple that they are hard.  We know what patience is not, but what is it?  The word patience in this text comes from two words – long (makros) and suffering (thumos) – makrothumia. It is what it says – long-suffering – waiting – forebearance – putting up with without reaction.  How many times does the Apostle Paul tell us to endure?  We are to endure in patience.

Have you noticed a pattern in our study of Galatians?  We cannot produce any of the Fruit of the Spirit on our own.  Only God can produce in us the Fruit of the Spirit, including true patience, long-suffering.

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.  In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free.
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Colossians 3:10-11

Put on your new nature – put on – that’s an action, not a reaction.   Act before you have to react.  How so?  Get to know Jesus (action), He’s really all that matters (action), and become like Him (action).  Only in becoming like Him can we then put on patience, or any other fruit for that matter, and ensure that that is what we’re leaving on our path.  We don’t want our paths to be marked by reactions, the opposite of patience – angry, short-tempered, anxious, frustrated, reactors.  New life in Christ – that’s the only way!

Wednesday
Read Colossians 3:1-17.  Patience is action and impatience is reaction.  Are you an actor or a reactor? Write a strategic plan for yourself that will enable you to be an actor instead of a reactor.  Are we continually being renewed as we learn more and more about Christ?  Have we even changed our clothes?  How do we change our clothes?  Chew on verse 11 – is that true for you?

Thursday
Read Psalm 40.  Write down the benefits of waiting for the Lord.  Would we have those benefits if we didn’t have those trials?  Memorize verse 17 to act upon patience in our waiting.

Friday
Read James 5:7-12.  What are we to do while we patiently wait?  In addition to Job, what other prophets endured suffering and hardship and waited patiently on the Lord to deliver them?  Write down a couple.

Saturday
Read 2 Peter 3.  Does life sometimes cause us to say – Even so come, Lord Jesus, come?  What is the reason Peter gives that the Lord is waiting to return?  How should we be living while we wait?

Sunday
Read Romans 2:1-16.  What reason do the scriptures give us for the Lord’s patience?  How are we using the time God has given us?  Is there sin in our lives we need to turn from?

Monday
Read Psalm 27.  The Psalms are beautiful songs of encouragement and instruction.  David was a master songwriter.  Search your Bible for more Psalms that that affirm God’s patience with us, for us, and through us.

Tuesday
Spend time today in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to fan the flames of the spirit of Patience.  Ask the Lord to teach you the patience He has mirrored for us.  Is there unconfessed sin in our lives?  Take an opportunity to confess those things that may get in the way of Patience.  Do we need to confess impatience, anger, self-controllessness?  Pray God’s great strength in our lives to be able to forebear, to endure, to wait patiently, to long-suffer, just as He has done for us to come to Him.  Praise Him!