“One of the most concise descriptions of His character is the fruit of the Spirit.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (p. 258). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

You might say, “OK, I want to be like Christ. What does that mean?” And I’m glad you asked. As Rick says, “One of the most concise descriptions of His character is the fruit of the Spirit” and you find that in Galatians 5: 22– 23 (NLT). And it says, “When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Now how He does this in our lives is very slowly. As Rick say, “Fruit always matures and ripens slowly.”

He then says that one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn is “God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.”

For example, if He wants to develop love in you then He will bring unlovely people around you into your life. To develop joy He brings sorrow.

Rick then says, “God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. Anyone can be peaceful watching a beautiful sunset or relaxing on vacation. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid. Likewise, patience is developed in circumstances in which we’re forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.”

He gives you the opportunity to make a choice. Rick then says, “You can’t claim to be faithful if you have never had the opportunity to be unfaithful. Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest; humility grows when we refuse to be prideful; and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up. Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus!”

So allowing temptation is a part of God’s plan to make you like Christ. The Enemy’s plan is to defeat God’s desire to make you like Christ so he sends the temptation to be the opposite.

So do you want to be like Christ and fulfill His purpose for you?

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