The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience, Kindness, and Goodness;聖神的果子：吞愞、慈悲、善良

11/8/09 Sermon by Minister Michael Johnson translated by Mu-En Yang

The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience, Kindness, and Goodness

聖神的果子：吞愞、慈悲、善良

加拉太人書（Galatians） 5:22-26

Last week I spoke on the first three fruits of the Spirit: love, joy and peace. We referred to these first three fruits as habits of the mind. They are called this because they have to do with the way we think. We can have either thoughts of hate or thoughts of love. We can have an attitude of malcontent or one of joy. We can have an internal state of turmoil or one of peace. Our carnal nature and the world will always try to get us to think of things that are not loving, joyful or peaceful. Does that happen with you? You can be having a great day and all of a sudden something will come into your mind and before you know it, your joy is gone? Thankfully, the Lord knows us so well He gave us a blueprint for how to combat it. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” If we think on these things, it will be easier for us to walk in love, joy and peace. If we walk in love, joy and peace then others around us can be affected by it. It is fitting then that the next three fruits, patience, kindness, and goodness are called fruits of social interaction and neighborly concern.

頂禮拜我講到前三款聖神的果子: 仁愛，喜樂，以及平安。咱可能給這三款聖神所結的果子看作是人內心的習慣。啥事按呢？因為這三款果子是和人內心的想法有關係。咱的心內有疼，有怨恨(oan-hun)；有貪心不滿，有知足喜樂；有混亂，亦有平安。咱世俗的本性會咱常常(tiaⁿ-tiaⁿ)忘記(boe-kit-chhit) 仁愛，喜樂以及平安。這款代誌咁會發生佇你身上?你甘曾經(bat)原本有金好的心情，熊熊想起一件歹事，原本佇你心中的喜樂攏走落落(chao liao-liao)?感謝主，祂深知咱的狀況(chong-kong)，所以祂教示咱怎樣行。腓利比書人書四章八節講:”今(Taⁿ)兄弟阿，結尾來講，見若真實的，見若可敬，見若公義的，見若清潔的，見若能(thang)疼的，見若好名聲的，若有什麼能(thang)讚美(o-lo)，chiah-e tioh 思念(siao-liam)。” 咱若思念chiah-e 事，咱要(be)行佇仁愛，喜樂，以及平安中就會(te-oe)較簡單。咱如果是行佇仁愛，喜樂，以及平安中，佇咱四周圍的人也會分到(beng-tioh) chia-e 好。

接續來三款的果子是吞忍，慈悲以及善良。Chia-e果子可以(e-ing)作社會行為的果子。

We interact with a lot of people each day. In most every interaction is an opportunity to demonstrate patience, kindness, or goodness. You might hold the door open for someone or let someone take your seat on the bus. You might smile at someone you walk into your office building. You might help someone get an item off a high shelf on a grocery store aisle. If you’re a student, you might take the time to explain a difficult concept to a classmate. How we interact with others is correlated to the presence of these fruits in our hearts. If the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts we will be more likely to demonstrate these fruits. This is not to say the use of these fruits will be automatic.

咱逐天(Tak-kang)攏和真多人相濟接。逐次(tak-kai)的濟接攏是一個活出吞忍，慈悲和善良真好的機會。你可以(e-eng)幫人開一個門，亦是佇公車頂面該你的位讓互別人，你(e-eng)向(ng)路裡不認識(bo-siat-sai)的人笑一個，你可以(e-eng)佇甘仔店幫人拿(te)一項較高他拿不到,你拿的到的物。或者是你是學生，你可以liong一些(chhit-koa)時間向(ng)同學解釋較難的觀念。咱怎樣和(kap)別人濟接，是和(kap) 咱心中聖神的果子有真密切(bit-chhet)的關係。如果聖神住佇咱心中，咱較會活出這的(chia-e)果子。但是我不是咧講咱會自然而然(chu-jian-ni-jian)就行出這些果子。

Using patience, kindness, and goodness on a regular basis takes practice. Think of a little boy who suddenly has a new brother or sister. For his whole life he didn’t have to share his books or toys all the time, just when his friends or cousins visited. Now, with a new brother or sister, not only does he have to share his books, toys and space, but more than that, he has to share his Mom and Dad! It takes practice and reinforcement for him to learn to share. It also takes patience from the parents to teach him how to share. Soon, sharing becomes more natural to him. This is the same with us when it comes to walking in the fruits of the Spirit. First of all, it requires the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Second, it requires our desire and effort to demonstrate them. Third, as we mature in Christ, the fruits of the Spirit will flow more easily from us.

只有通過練習，才會(chiat-e)佇生活中的每一時活出吞忍，慈悲以及善良。設使一個男甫囝仔有一天熊熊得到一個弟弟或是妹妹。佇他一世人攏不曾(m-bat)佇所有時間攏和別人分享他的物，或者是該朋友亦是同學分享，只不過是佇他們(in) 來拜訪的時。但是今(taⁿ)他不止要(ai)和(kap)他的弟弟亦是妹妹分享他的書，物，和房間，甚至是爸爸媽媽攏要和這個弟弟或妹妹來分享。爸媽(bhe-bu)嘛要用吞忍來教這個囝仔怎樣來分享。真緊，分享對這個囝仔來講已經是自然的行為。咱要(be) 行出聖神的果子iu-guan相像(sio-siang)。第一，咱需要聖神佇咱的生命中。第二，咱要(ai)有心和(kap)努力來行。第三，當(tng)咱佇基督中漸漸成熟長大，咱要( be)活出聖神的果子會越來越簡單。

With that said, let’s take a closer look at the fruits for this week: patience, kindness and goodness. The first fruit is patience. I’m sure you’ve heard this saying before. It’s one my grandparents always told me. They’d say, “Mike, patience is a virtue.” They often reminded me of this when things did not turn out as I wanted or as fast as I wanted. Like many children, I demonstrated very little patience. I did not want to wait around for what I wanted. Maybe it was the anticipation. I could not wait to get the reward of my effort. My grandfather would often take me fishing. If I were spending a weekend with my grandparents, my grandfather and I would often get up early and go fishing on a lake near his house. It was always difficult for me to sit still and wait for a fish to bite. I would frequently reel in my line and cast it out to a new place. I assumed that if the fish weren’t taking the bait after two minutes then I needed to find another spot. My grandfather slowly taught me patience. I needed to allow the fish to become intrigued with the bait I was using. When they were tempted enough they would bite. As I learned patience, I soon began to increase the number of fish I took home. While I was learning about baiting fish, my grandfather did not get angry with me for my impatience. Instead, he taught me why it was important to be patient and also demonstrated it for me. Had he told me one thing and shown me another, I doubt I would have believed him. This is the same with the fruits of the Spirit. God not only tells us to walk in them but shows us How through Scripture.

The Bible says God is “slow to anger” and therefore is patient with His people. When we are disobedient, God is not quick to strike us down for our sin. Instead, He is patient with us. God gives us many opportunities to understand and learn from our mistakes. He does not give up on us quickly like I did while fishing. God calls us to Him in such a way that we cannot resist Him. Peter further explains God’s patience towards us. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

In the same way we must also be patient. There are many opportunities for us to practice our patience. If we can be patient when many would give up others will notice our patience. They will wonder how it is that we can remain patient under even the most stressful of circumstances. We cannot expect our lives and those around us to be perfect. My grandfather could have very easily become frustrated with my poor fishing tactics. He could have given up on taking me out to fish, but he took time to teach me the proper way to fish. My grandfather taught me a skill through patience. In the same way God, by His example, teaches us how to be patient with others. We all have someone in our lives that frustrates us. With the Lord as our example and as the one guiding us we can demonstrate patience to those around us.

I feel patience is very related to love because without love how can we be patient? My grandfather loved me so he was patient with me. Everyone here with children knows this fact. No one parent can say they have never been frustrated by their children. However, it is the love you have for your children that allows you to be patient with them. In the same way the love of the Lord in our lives will allow us to be patient with those around us.

The second fruit discussed this week is kindness. We all know what it is to be kind. It is helping someone with a task. It is buying a friend coffee. It might be visiting someone in the hospital. There are an infinite number of ways to be kind to others. However, what is the motive behind these acts of kindness? Also, any act of kindness may have a hidden motive. This motive might be to impress someone else by your kindness. Someone may require the act of kindness be rewarded with a “thank you”. The kindness of God is something more than these things. The Lord is kind to us because He wants relationship with us. The Lord is kind to sinners because He desires repentance. When a sinner repents God is able to demonstrate His kindness again with forgiveness. The forgiven person then is expected to imitate the kindness of the Lord to others.

When imitating the kindness of the Lord the only motivation we have is to be a representative of the Lord. No longer do we require thanks for our actions. Our acts of kindness come from the overflowing joy we have from being filled with the Spirit of the Lord. We cannot help but share kindness with others. We can easily tell that kindness we extend to someone is selfish when we are being kind only to receive something in return, even just a thank you. However, when the Lord fills us with His Spirit, it is the kind act in itself that is fulfilling. I know when I feel God’s presence and I act kind I feel good simply because I was kind. Our acts of kindness won’t always be received well by the recipient. Have you ever experienced that? You treat someone in a kind manner and they are only rude to you in return? Don’t take it personally. That person is in the place where you once were: in need of Christ’s intervention! Use the opportunity to pray that the Lord draw the person to Himself. Did you know that Scripture tells us it is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance? You might think of kindness as a meek and mild act, not full of much power. But when you know that it’s the Lord’s kindness towards us that draws us to Himself, you become aware that kindness is not mild at all, but extremely powerful!

The final fruit of the Spirit we will look at today is goodness. Goodness, in this context, could be translated as generosity. By nature, people are not generous. Many people are more inclined to take rather than to give. We only need to look at the news for a few minutes to see that. Even charities will sometimes include a gift to entice you to donate a larger amount than you planned. They say that if you donate $50 they’ll send you a t-shirt. If you donate $100 they’ll send you a t-shirt, a canvas tote bag and a coffee mug. We may be conditioned to feel as though our generosity must be rewarded.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we become generous people. We begin to think less about ourselves and more about the people we are helping. Hopefully we are considering how the Word of the Lord can be spread through our generosity as well. If our generosity has a focus on the Kingdom of God then our generosity won’t be a way to promote ourselves. With a Kingdom focus our generosity is to build the kingdom. I feel this requires peace.

If peace brings wholeness of self to each one of us then we do not need generosity to give us peace. We already have peace through Christ and with the Holy Spirit living in our hearts. Generosity is an extension of this wholeness. Take the example of money donated to a local family who has experienced a loss or hardship. That money can offer a sense of security. It is one less thing the family needs to worry about regarding their situation. One might say they have more peace of mind in such a situation. Someone who is generous is extending the peace they have to others. By doing so, the grace of Christ is imitated to the family.

To conclude, patience, kindness, and goodness are fruits that help us interact with others in a Godly manner. Just as Christ is patient, kind, and good to us so also we must be patient, kind, and good to others. Maybe you are thinking of a way right now in this moment to use one or all of these fruits in the life of someone you know. I would challenge you to not hesitate on this feeling, but act. Maybe nothing comes to mind right now. If that is the case I challenge you to pray that God will give you an opportunity to have these fruits demonstrated through your life this week. We must all be open and receptive to God’s leading. People, by nature, are relational. Our faith is not meant to be hidden from others. Display your faith, and use these fruits as a basis for your interactions with others. In the end, you are not drawing people to just like you more. You are drawing people to taste and see that the Lord is good.