Fresh Fruit // Part 9: Self-Control

What is Self-Control? When you think of self-control, what do you think of? For many, an easy illustration is of the calorie-counter who passes on a second slice of cake. But self-control goes much further than managing our physical hunger and love of sweets. Below is a more expansive definition. Self-control: the virtue of one…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 8: Gentleness

It’s Tough to Be Gentle In today’s culture, it can be a serious challenge for us to be gentle. Just think about how harshly people respond to one another’s politics: convincing others that we’re right and “righteous” often comes before respect for them as people! This is the standard that is set for us in…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 7: Faithfulness

Faithfulness is Counter-Cultural Some near-synonyms for the word faithful are loyal, constant, devoted, unwavering, steadfast, and committed. One way to define the word might be “to remain steadfast, holding true in your words and actions to a commitment you once made.” To be faithful means to be unshaken by the wind and waves, prepared to…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 6: Goodness

Are People Born Good? Before we think too much about what goodness is, we need to understand the difference between “goodness” and “kindness.” The late theologian and Bible scholar, John Stott, notably pointed out that the nine characteristics of the fruit of the spirit can be placed in groups of three: Love, joy, and peace…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 5: Kindness

The Golden Exception If you’re old enough, you might remember the phrase, “be kind, rewind.” That motto encouraged people to reset their VHS tapes so that the next person to borrow the tape would be able to start watching right away. It’s sort of like replacing the toilet paper when it runs out, so that…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 4: Patience

A World of Hurry We live in a world of hurry. Can you think of anything that hasn’t gotten faster in the last ten years? For the vast majority of human history, instant messaging was impossible for even the wealthiest kings. But today, it’s in the pocket of almost every American and countless around the…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 3: Peace

It’s Fruit, Not Fruits! It’s our third week covering the fruit of the Spirit, and you may have noticed that we’ve been consistently saying fruit rather than fruits. There’s a reason behind this! It might seem small at first, but it’s actually an important difference. Let’s take a closer look at Galatians 5:22-23. But the…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 2: Joy

Joy vs. Happiness The second fruit of the Spirit is joy. So, what is joy? Many dictionaries list it as a synonym for happiness, but they’re definitely not the same thing. Happiness is fully an emotion. It’s a product of our circumstances, and it changes with the wind. But joy is something that we can…

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Fresh Fruit // Part 1: Love

How to Identify a Christ Follower Do you think you could recognize a trustworthy babysitter when you meet one? You couldn’t know for sure just by looking at them, because there are good people of all kinds of nationalities, body types, and fashion tastes. But what about if you had a quick, everyday conversation with…

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