True Sweetness: Patience, Kindness, & Goodness

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! GALATIANS 5:22-23 NLT 

“Apart from me you can do nothing.” These are Jesus’ words when he tells us in the book of John that He is the vine, and we are the branches. The fruit of the Spirit — all those wonderful virtues we aspire to — comes from Him (not us), but through us. We just have to be open to growing. 

So how do we grow deeper in the fruit of the Spirit? We have to study God’s Word and know God on an even deeper level. We have to understand His love for us and find the faithful evidence of His work in our lives. And then we have to live our faith and shine the fruit of the Spirit bright in our lives. Keep reading for devotion and Scripture on the second three fruits of the Spirit listed in Scripture: patience, kindness, and goodness. 

Patience: About Time 

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. II PETER 3:9 NIV 

She looked at her watch for the third time in the same minute as she paced back and forth on the front porch. “Where are they?” she worried out loud, wondering where the movers were whom she had hired to bring her belongings to the new house. She calculated the distance from the storage unit to her house and couldn’t find any logical explanation for why they still weren’t there. She was paying them by the hour, a concerning fact that fueled her imagination with all the ways they could be delayed. Maybe they decided to stop for lunch. Or perhaps got lost? Or wrecked? 

At last they rounded the corner and pulled up to the house. Making a beeline toward the driver, she all but yelled, “What took you so long? Didn’t you leave three hours ago?” 

“Yes, ma’am, we did,” the driver confirmed. “But we had to first pack everything up. Then we travel slowly so that bumps on the road don’t cause cracks or breaks in any of your fragile belongings,” he explained. “Wouldn’t you rather us arrive with everything safely intact?” In the end, she realized he was right; his reasoning was more reasonable than her hurry. 

In a similar way, it’s easy to wonder what on earth God is doing as we watch the world tailspin in pain, confusion, and corruption. When is God ever going to do something? we think as we watch disasters unfold on the nightly news. Worse, we begin to lose hope. We grow complacent in our faith, forgetting that Jesus promised to come back for us. 

But God hasn’t forgotten to come. He’s not even delaying. Instead, Scripture says He’s simply being patient, waiting for everyone who will repent and receive salvation to do so before judgment day arrives. We join Him in the wait, patiently preparing for the day we’re promised to meet Him face-to-face. 

Father, Your timing is always perfect, and You fulfill every single promise You make. Thank You for patiently waiting for more people to turn to You and be saved. Help me get ready for Your imminent return! In Jesus’s name. 

Kindness: Reaching to Restore 

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” LUKE 6:35-36 ESV 

When she found him beside the road, he was covered in dirt, his fur matted in knots and crawling with fleas. The poor mutt cowered with tail tucked as she approached and carefully wrapped a towel around his quivering body. He let out a growl and snapped at her in self-defense. But she calmed him with her reassuring words and slow, careful movements. As a seasoned dog rescuer, she knew the long road that lay ahead. But she was prepared to keep him safe and set him on the path of healing and hopefully future adoption. 

At home, she washed away the mud and clipped his mangy fur, fluffing him dry and coating him in flea powder. Already he looked like an entirely different dog. But it took weeks of tender and consistent care to conquer his fears and rebuild his trust after so much trauma. When he was well, she alerted the Humane Society that she had a new pup ready for adoption. Within just a few days, they found him a forever family, and she got ready for the next referral. 

When we’re working with wounded animals, we know to exercise caution. But our concern for their well-being overrides their hostile resistance to our help because we know they have limited understanding and we have the power to do them good. 

God wants us to view people through that same lens of compassion—even the people who oppose us or wish us harm. Because we’re filled with God’s indwelling Spirit, He invites us to reach out in kindness to bring the hope and healing of Jesus to a lost and hurting world. When we obey, we aren’t guaranteed a wonderful response. Just like hurting animals lash out in fear, so do people. But God tells us to persist in kindness and pray for their full restoration. In the process, God blesses us with deeper awareness and awe at His incredible kindness toward us. 

Father, I am constantly amazed by Your kindness toward me. Fill me with that same kind of persistent compassion toward others, that my attitude and actions might lead them to adoption into Your family. In Jesus’s name. 

Goodness: Buoyed by Grace 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ROMANS 12:21 ESV 

As he watched the instructional videos, he was mesmerized. A young girl flailed frantically in the water, screaming for help as she battled the waves and the hidden current that was causing her visible crisis. But as the lifeguard swam out to meet her, she didn’t relax or act relieved at all, despite her savior’s arrival. Instead, the panic and thrashing only intensified. “You can’t approach someone drowning from the front,” the instructor called out to the class over the video. “Watch how the lifeguard comes in from behind.” Sure enough, he swam around the girl to get to the back where he could reach under her armpits and secure her shoulders while protecting himself from her frantic gestures. Buoyed by the life preserver he brought, they both made it to shore safely and swiftly. 

In a very real way, God calls His kids to be lifeguards for a world full of people in danger of drowning in spiritual darkness. Most of the time, they know they’re in some sort of trouble—their souls endlessly searching for an identity or purpose to cling to for life. But finding no solid or stable ground, they begin flailing and grasping at whatever promises to change their fate. Unfortunately, even Christians can find themselves in a similar state if they wander away from the safety of Truth’s shore. 

But we must be careful with our approach to rescuing. If we barge in with a frontal attack, seeking to forcefully rip the wrong idols out of their hands, the struggle may sink us both. Instead, we grab hold of the Spirit of God to buoy us with His grace and truth. We surprise them with the radical kindness and security of God’s love, extended to them in spite of their oppositional defiance. Through prayer and persistent goodness, we work in tandem with God’s ever-present Spirit and His timing to pull them back to safety. 

Lord, thank You for rescuing me from certain death. I am awed by Your goodness and want to extend that to others, even if they only retaliate against my efforts. Help me to overcome evil with good, acting toward others out of the overflow of Your mercy toward me. In Jesus’s name. 

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