Fruit

The word "gentleness" is normally used to describe an action... a gentle touch, a gentle hugs, etc. So it can be difficult to understand the word gentleness as a personal characteristic on its own. However, the Bible teaches us that the result of having the Holy Spirit is that we are gentle, along with peaceful, loving, joyful, patient, kind, compassionate, good, and full of self-control. 

For those who have been believers for some time the fruit of the Spirit can become commonplace and lose some of it's purpose. When we look into these characteristics, though, we more often seen a wish list of what we hope to find in the people who surround us. I've recently found that I am lacking in some of these areas. This is especially true for the way that I treat the people close to me. 

I am a Christian who loses patience daily with my children.

I am a Christian who responds unkindly to my husband at times. 

I am a Christian who strives for what's next rather than living in the peace of God's provision and protection.

I am a Christian who sometimes struggles with finding joy in my circumstances. 

I think I am good and I think I am loving but I KNOW that I am lacking. 

When I consider the times when I have been gentle, kind, loving, joyful, good, and peaceful, I see a pattern of what has lead me to be this way. 

When I think unkindly about someone, I do so in my fleshly human nature. When I pray for someone, I do so with the powerful intercession of the Holy Spirit.

When I lose my patience with my little ones, I do so out of human frustration. When I pray for them I do so with the powerful intercession of the Holy Spirit. 

I could go on, but my point is that when we intercede on behalf of others, we are more likely to view them with patience, gentleness, and kindness. When I attempt to work through something on my own I lose self-control, joy, and peace. But when I pray, through the power of the Holy Spirit, I suddenly possess these characteristics. 

The Holy Spirit is the forgotten God. It is just as important as God the Father and God the Son, but so often forgotten and unutilized. 

Our good Father gifted us with an intercessor and called us then to intercede for others. When we do so we possess the fruit of the Spirit. When we "pray without ceasing" as the Bible instructs us to in Thessalonians, we are constantly in communion with God's Spirit and we are peace, gentleness, patience, love, joy, kindness, goodness, and self-control. 

So as I feel like I am lacking I remember that He is not. I turn to Him, away from myself, bend my knee and bow my head for others and choose to possess the fruit that God so faithfully bestows.