Sunday, 3 December 2017

Fruit of the Spirit - Self Control

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What's left is the last of the 9 fruits, self-control. The Greek word used here only appears only 4 times in the Bible; here, Acts 24:25 and twice in 2 Peter 1:6.

Self-control seems like a stretch to be a fruit of the spirit. To be a fruit (as we have said previously) we must be able to replicate an attribute of God. So, our self-control doesn't really come from self, but from the Lord who by example shows us how to express this fruit. Then He gives us His spirit so we are no longer slaves to our first emotion or thought.

Each of us is as unique as a snowflake or a fingerprint. While I admire the testimony of instant change, that has never been me. I am more the transformational (take time to change) kind of person. Fruit is fruit. It starts as a bud and matures into a flower. Then the fruit itself appears and the flower falls off.

This is a process that can't be rushed. What is it in Malachi 3:11, "'I will rebuke the devouring pest for you, so it will not destroy the fruit of your land, nor will your vine be barren in the field,' Adonai-Tzva'ot says." Some translations say, "Your fruit will not drop before its time."

My prayer today is that your fruit will remain and increase. Shalom, R Michael