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"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
(Galatians 5:22-23)
When all is well in our lives, we incorporate the fruit of the Spirit a little easier. But when things change and our lives are interrupted by any number of things, then to have the fruit of the Spirit manifested in our lives in those moments is something special and pleasing to God. I have spoken and written recently on this topic of being patient and kind when others around me are impatient and unkind. By God's empowering grace and strength, we can be those Spirit-filled followers of Jesus who are strong in our faith even in times of temptation and challenge.
Our son-in-law, Jeffrey, was in a car wreck about this time last year. A lady rear-ended him. Perhaps you have been there. I know I have. It is not a good experience, for sure! But I love the way Jeffrey handled the situation. He got out of the car and spoke to the lady, letting her know he was not angry and understood that it was an accident. He also invited her to visit our church! Perhaps you are thinking you could never do that: remain that calm in the midst of a painful situation. But you can.
Years ago, while serving as pastor at Liberty BC in VA, after church on a Sunday morning, I was driving home. It was about 1:00 p.m., and I was on the Hampton Roads Center Parkway about to get on I-64 West. I noticed some of our church members pulled over on the side of the road. I slowed down to see if they needed any help, and they motioned for me to stop. Jimmy and Evelyn Culbreath were hit from behind by a lady who was in a hurry taking her kids to a birthday party. The lady was obviously upset. She had tears in her eyes. This was the second time recently that the Culbreaths had been hit from behind. They asked me to stop so I could pray with this lady. So, we stood out on the side of the road and prayed. Jimmy gave the lady his jacket so she would not be cold.
It is not always easy to do the right and honorable thing. There are times when it is simply hard to exercise the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We want to, no doubt, but we often feel overwhelmed. By the empowering of the Holy Spirit, however, I believe we can be people of grace and patience, even when things are not going our way.
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