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Graces to Cherish, August 25
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law.
Galatians 5:22, 23
.
Here is held out the very thing for which we are to labor: “But the
fruit of the Spirit is love.” If we have the love of Christ in our souls it will
be a natural consequence for us to have all the other graces—joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; and
“against such there is no law.” The law of God does not condemn and
hold in bondage those who have these graces, because they are obeying
the requirements of the law of God. They are law keepers, and ... are not
under the bondage of the law....
We are to have love, and connected with this are joy, peace, long-
suffering, patience. We see the restlessness of the world, their dissatisfied
condition. They want something they have not. They want something to
keep up an excitement or something for amusement. But for the Christian
there is joy, there is peace, there is long-suffering, gentleness, meekness,
forbearance, and patience; and to these things we want to open the door
of our heart, cherishing the heavenly graces of the Spirit of God.... One
cannot do it for another.
You
may set to work and obtain the graces of the
Spirit, but that will not answer for me.... Each one individually must do
the work, and determine through personal efforts to have the grace of God
in the heart. I cannot form a character for you nor can you for me. It is a
burden that rests upon every one individually, young or old.
Christ says: “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even
a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (
Isaiah 13:12
). How? By the
cultivation of the graces of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith. We want the living faith that will
grasp the strong arm of Jehovah.... We all need the graces of the Spirit of
God in the heart.
When the love of Christ is enshrined in the heart, like sweet fragrance
it cannot be hidden. The holy influence it reflects through the character
will be manifest to all. Christ will be formed within, “the hope of glory.”
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