Walking in the Spirit means bearing fruits of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are clearly spelt out in the above scripture and it will be pertinent for us to study each fruit vis-à-vis their antonyms so we may have a better understanding. This is part two a three-part study series on the fruit of the spirit.
Peace
Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. He will live in perfect peace whose heart is stayed on God. God gives His children peace in the midst of tribulation. A child of God remains calm and collected even in a seemingly hopeless situation because God gives him peace. The bible says that we should pray and give thanks and the peace of God which passeth all human understanding will keep our hearts and mind. Therefore if you are walking by the Spirit you are a man of peace.
The opposite of peace is tribulation or trouble. If peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it implies that trouble is a fruit of the flesh. The bible says “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God” If the peacemakers are called the sons of God, then whose children are the trouble makers, they are definitely not the sons of God. Therefore if we walk in the Spirit we must be children of peace..
Long Suffering / Patience
Patience is a virtue every born again Christian must own, because without it we may lose track. If Abraham was patient to wait upon the promise of a son through Sarah, there might not have been an Ishmael. Joseph was patient and so would not sleep with Potiphar’s wife to quickly get to fame; he waited for the time appointed by God. Moses was very patient with the Israelites when bringing them out of Israel. God is a very patient God.
2 Peter 3:8 – But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day
He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. David was patient enough to be crowned king even after he was anointed several years back. If he was in a hurry, he could have killed Saul when he had the opportunity.
The opposite of patience is impatience/hurry. If a man is always in a hurry, he may miss the mark. Some might have been promised greatness, and after waiting for two years without seeing any difference they tend to want to achieve that greatness by hook or crook. Mr. Flesh is always in a hurry. The flesh cannot wait for this your slow process of getting rich, it wants this wealth now, and so if you have to steal to make it happen, then do it quickly. If you have to lie to get that contract, do it quickly because your speaking the truth is slowing you down (that is always the way the flesh reasons). But the patient man would refrain from the temptation of stealing to satisfy his immediate needs; believing that God will never leave him or forsake him; therefore he will wait upon God and do only what is right. A patient woman when being tempted to want to exploit the joy of her sexuality will say she is reserving that for the time she will be married. But the impatient one will be in a hurry to taste what it’s like to have sex with a man. A patient man wouldn’t be in haste to fight or take matters to court, but an impatient man wants to always have his way no matter what it takes.
Kindness
Kindness is a virtue most people will love to see others exhibit in relating to them, but which they themselves may not want to exhibit when relating to others. A man may want you to be kind to him by assisting him to process his papers so as to achieve whatever he wants to achieve, but when it comes to him doing the same for others, he finds it difficult. Kindness involves being willing to assist others, being polite and doing good.
Unkindness, which is the opposite of kindness, is almost like being wicked. This is because if you have the opportunity of assisting another person and you refuse to do it for selfish reasons, then you are being wicked. For example, if a man sustains a deep injury, and you have all the first aid kit needed to keep that man from bleeding to death and you refuse to do it then you are wicked. So, we see that kindness is a must for everyone who calls himself a believer
Ephesians 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you
Let the golden rule be your guiding principle in showing kindness, which is “Do to others what you will have them do unto you”.
