The Fruit of the Spirit:
Long-Suffering, Goodness and Kindness
(Galatians 5:22)
Sermon Notes
Long-Suffering
- to be long-tempered
- Holding out of the mind, before it gives room for action
- Self-restraint that does not hastily retaliate for wrong
- Forbearance which endures injuries and evil deeds without being provoked to anger
God’s long-suffering was illustrated in the story of Jonah.
God told the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against their wickedness, yet Jonah went to Tarshish. God used a whale to bring Jonah to Nineveh to cry out against their wickedness. And the people turned from their wicked ways, so God relented from the disaster that He said He would bring. Yet, Jonah was angry that God was merciful, because he thought the people of Nineveh deserved judgement.
Goodness
- Actively working itself out to be generous
- Generosity to others
- Kindness in action
God doesn’t HAVE goodness, He IS good.
Psalms 100:5 (NKJV) – For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
“He did not wait for me to be good to start showing His goodness toward me.” – Pastor Billy Johnson
Romans 2:4 (NKJV) – Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Kindness
- Quality of being warm-hearted, considerate, and humane
- Doing to others what you would have them do to you
Give kindness to others simply because they are human. Remove generational preferences, ethnic preferences, etc.
“Be kind to people before you know who they are.” – Pastor Billy Johnson
Put On Kindness
Colossians 3:12 (NKJV) – Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
Be Kind to One Another
Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV) – And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
“What would your family look like if you were kind to one another?” – Pastor Billy Johnson
Kindness is Eternal
Ephesians 2:6-7 – and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God is so full of kindness and goodness that it has to flow over into eternity, and in the ages to come, to show the exceeding riches of His grace.