5 Signs of a
HEALTHY CHRISTIAN
Emotional Resilience
When we look at the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we can see that these are the emotions and mental dispositions that we need to bounce back to from the various emotional episodes that we go through every day. The fruit of the Spirit is the by-product of being led by God through his indwelling Holy Spirit. Here’s what Paul wrote to the Galatians:
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:16-26).
The ‘flesh’ is our human nature with all its frailties. These frailties lead us to escape our emotional issues through: sexual excitement, false spiritual solutions, relational conflicts, bitterness, control issues, and the use of substances with their related activities.
How many of us suffer with these maladies? Isn’t it time we quit ignoring them? Isn’t it time to stop running around trying to cope, and get down to making changes in our lives?
Unfortunately, we often turn to the works of the flesh to escape our emotional issues rather than bounce back through the Fruit of the Spirit.
What drives us to this behavior?
Isn’t it the lies that we believe about ourselves? Maybe not when things are good. But when something bad happens, or when ​we blow it, then listen to the lies ​that go through our heads. They say we are: unworthy, broken, must perform, abandoned, unlovable, rejected, not good enough, unwanted, powerless, not safe, and a myriad of other lies.
Isn’t it fear, disappointment, mistrust, or self-doubt that drives us to despair? No wonder we have all these behaviors of the flesh that help us escape this emotional pain!​
​Emotional resilience is the ability to bounce back from painful emotions. The fruit of the God’s Spirit in our lives is exactly what we need to do that: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But how do we do this? How do we allow the Holy Spirit to manifest His fruit in our lives? It is a matter of choice.
SELF-CHECK:
Are you exercising the fruit of the Spirit or the desires of the flesh?
Take a look at
the fruits of the Spirit:
LOVE
Will you receive his love or do you believe you are unlovable? Believe him, receive his love and then love others.
Joy
Do you believe you can experience joy?
Or is life working against you?
Peace
Do you believe you can have peace?
Or does life seem hopeless and you helpless?
Kindness
Do you exhibit mercy and grace to others? Or are you too consumed with your own problems and issues to think about them?
Goodness
Are you pessimistic about life? Or do you live a life that is full of truth, justice and righteousness?
Gentleness
Is the world a mean place? Do you have to watch out and fight for your own concerns?
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Or are you kind and thoughtful toward other people?
Faithfulness
Do you trust God with your life? Do you believe he is faithful? Are you trustworthy, faithful to your word and responsibilities?
Self-Control
Are you having victory with your temptations?
​As we walk in his Spirit, as we are led by God, we come to believe that we are loved, honored, and will never be abandoned. You are worthy of his grace because he made you in his likeness.
The Fruit of the Spirit is the direct result of being led, walking in, not quenching, and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Does this even seem possible to you? It isn’t possible in your own power. It’s the work of our loving God. He gives us his Spirit to produce this in us.
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Will you commit to the control
of the Holy Spirit?
​We are asking you to commit your life to the control of God through his Spirit in you. It’s a line drawn in the sand from which you move forward. It’s committing yourself radically to God’s control. It’s you saying, “Yes, God I believe. Do a mighty work in my life.” Will you trust God to love you unconditionally, to always be there, never forsake you, and to help you live the kind of life you were born to live? He can, and he will!
As you commit your life to the loving control of God’s Spirit, you will experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As you see and feel this change in your life individually, and in community with others, you’ll want to share the life giving message of the Fruit of the Spirit with others. Share this website and tools we have with others and together let’s touch thousands of people around the world with the healing message of Jesus.