Pen Pulpit

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Galatians 5:22, 23
February 20th, 2000

“For the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, - peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, against such there is no law.”

LONG SUFFERING

Long Suffering - Putting up with a person or situation for a long time.

God is a long suffering God.

• Toward sinners - II Peter 3:8,

I Timothy 1:16

• Toward believers - Psalm 86:15

God is long suffering, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
We are to be imitators of God our Father - long suffering with our non believing world, to one another, as well as to situations we find ourselves in.

KINDNESS

Another virtue of our Heavenly Father is kindness. Believers are to be characterized by kindness. God’s people are never to be unkind to anyone. In Ephesians 4:32 we read that God expects us to be kind -

Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

See also I Corinthians. 13:4, II Timothy 2:24, Proverbs 31:26 and Colossians. 3:12.

These past several months Eva and I have had a wonderful chance to practice long suffering and you, dear folk, have shown abundant kindness to us for which we can’t begin to thank you enough. God bless.


Love to you all.

--Pastor Charles Covington 1933-2006