Faith was mentioned above, because it surrounds all of this. However, it is listed here because faith – along with meekness and temperance – is one of the ways in which you control yourself and become more like Christ. As we will see in a few sections, you control yourself because we are in a spiritual battle. And, having these fruits is the way you get in shape for that “big game.”
Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” We all walk by faith. You accept by faith that your chair will support you when you sit in it. You accept that you’ll be safe wherever you feel safe. Many times, we don’t think about how much faith we really have.
Sometimes, that faith is so great, though, that a person is able to witness about God because of it. Faith is related to each of the other fruits mentioned here and elsewhere. But, let’s look at peace for a moment.
A close friend had a father who was told he had Alzheimer ’s disease. Most people are in shock when they hear this. They either deny it, or they think about the dreaded future. They worry about whether they will be a burden on others. Or, they think about how awful it will be to forget everything; and how scary.
This man was different. He accepted it. The doctor thought he hadn’t understood; he had never seen a patient accept this as well as this man had. The father than explained that he knew he would be with Jesus someday, so it didn’t matter what happened to him on earth. That is the peace that passeth understanding. And, that is faith.
The others are sometimes misunderstood. Temperance means self-control in all things. Some people connect it specifically to drinking. However, it relates to everything we do. Meekness is not weakness. The world wants it to be, so they can make fun of Christians. But, meekness is a strength. Someone who is meek is kind, gentle, and so on, but yet they know they have power inside. They simply refuse to use any more than is necessary. They are willing to talk rather than lash out in anger.
The best example of meekness was Jesus. He had all the power in the universe, yet He chose not to use it. He could have sent legions of angels to destroy the world. Instead, He let Himself be arrested and crucified. He went to that cross willingly.
When you are a spiritual leader, you should model all nine of these, and every other one that is mentioned as a good fruit of the Spirit. You may struggle with some, but that’s okay. Jesus will help you become better. The Shunammite woman was great, but even she struggled during her life. She kept growing, however, because she wanted to be a good example to others.
