St Michael’s Home Program
Fruits of the Spirit – Week 6: Love, Goodness, Faithfulness & Self-Control
Chris Luyt
“The fruit of the Spirit is… love… goodness, faithfulness… and self-control…” Gal 5:22-23
Love
Love is the greatest of all the fruits of the Spirit (1 Cor. 13:13 cf. Rom. 13:10). Love is the overall
expression and fulfilment of all the other fruits – God, the fullness of all authentic life, Himself, is Love (1
John 4:8). Here are a couple of core Scripture passages to consider regarding love: John 15:9-17; 1 Cor.
13; Rom. 12:9-21; 13:8-14; 1 John 2-5.
Love, from a Christian perspective, involves sacrificing my own wellbeing for the sake of others around
me. God, through Jesus, gave up everything and laid down His life for us on the cross (Phil. 2:5-8). We
are also called to take up our cross, and love others sacrificially (1 John 3:16). True love either brings
about transformation in others, or reinforces their lovelessness (2 Cor. 2:15-16).
God’s longing is for as many as possible to repent of a life of lovelessness and embrace Him by loving
other people who, though broken, are created in His image (2 Pet. 3:8-9). If you love truly, you will
produce all the other fruits of the Spirit in due course.
Goodness
The opposite of goodness is badness… and the root of badness is bitterness…
What do the following verses tell us about bitterness:
Heb. 12:14-15
Eph. 4:31-32
Acts 8:20-23
Jam. 3:14-16
Job 7:11
Bitterness is a powerful plant that takes root in the heart and produces a vile poison that kills anything in
close proximity… it happens slowly, silently and absolutely, if it is not recognized and uprooted. It is
associated with anger, malice, unrestrained talk, slander, trouble causing, selfish ambition, arrogance,
complaining and falsehood. Bitterness defiles anyone who comes in close proximity to it… if you know a
bitter-hearted person, you will be familiar with the way you feel whenever they are around you…
In order to prove itself thoroughly authentic, goodness must originate from good thoughts and
intentions, be expressed clearly in word, and be confirmed by action – Paul says: “…never tire of doing
good” (2 Thess. 3:13 cf. Jam. 2:14-17,22,26). Good thoughts and words are inadequate if not followed
through upon by action (see 1 John 3:18). However, good works without a solid heart (living in faith), are
equally meaningless (Jam. 2:22 cf. Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9).
How do I overcome bitterness?
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Acknowledge it and recognize its influence (Jam. 3:14).
Let go of it, hand it over to God, move forward positively – do good, in thought, word and deed.
If anyone has injured you and not repented, hand them over to God. You need not forgive them
for unrepented-of sin (Luke 17:3-4), but you must let go of the issue and hand it to God’s
judgment. Pray for them to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:8-9).
Reconcile with those whom your bitterness has impacted and/or driven away from you (Matt.
5:21-26).
Forgive those who truly repent, forgetting about their sin, putting it behind you forever (1 Cor.
13:5b-6).
Faithfulness
Faithfulness and loyalty go hand-in-hand. Faithfulness means commitment to those around you whom
you believe in, have come to invest in, to love and respect, through the good times and, especially, the
bad… Faithfulness is infused with an element of hope – hope for the best despite the worst happening in
the present. It means looking beyond our immediate communal circumstances to something better (for
all) in the long-run.
The opposite of faithfulness is betrayal. Betrayal happens when we are two-faced, when we give a
person the false sense that we support them and then turn on them to suit ourselves – holding
competing alliances to the detriment of other people (Jam. 1:5-8).
When we are not upfront with people, when we don’t confront them because we are afraid of their
reaction, we betray them. In this regard, Proverbs says: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an
enemy multiplies kisses” (Prov. 27:6), and “He who rebukes and man will in the end gain more favour
than he who has a flattering tongue” (Prov. 28:23) – cf. Lev. 19:17.
Always weigh how serious a person’s infringement is and whether it really warrants a rebuke… don’t be
a ‘rebuker’ (fault finder) for the sake of it.
Self-control
God expects us to have control over ourselves, and not to make excuses for our self-indulgence or
neglect of others (1 Thess. 4:3-6). Paul says: “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of
prophets. For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:32-33).
The Bible tells us we are to control our appetites for:
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Power (physical, political, relational, spiritual and/or religious power) Jam. 3:1; Phil. 1:15-17
Praise and attention (and, conversely, breaking others down through gossip and slander)–
Matt. 6:1,7,16; 1 Pet. 4:5-6
Wealth and possessions – 1 Tim. 6:6-10
Sexual gratification – 1 Thess. 4:3-6; 1 Cor. 6:16-20
Food and alcohol – 1 Cor. 6:10,12-13; Phil. 3:18-19; Eph. 5:18
We are neither to overindulge nor deprive (Col. 2:20-23) ourselves of what we need and want. As a rule
though, going without is better than over-indulging (Acts 20:35; Prov. 17:1). This is a core spiritual
principle behind fasting – resisting indulgence (immediate gratification) makes us more aware of our
greater need/hunger for God (Deut. 8:2-3 cf. Matt. 4:1-2).