and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 KJV
The Inspiration:
Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus made it clear who his audience was. He was speaking to people who had been called by God, out of the darkness of the world into the glorious light of God's presence. These were people who had not only put off the corrupt old man, but had also been renewed by the Spirit, and put on the new man, created after God in true holiness and righteousness. This categorisation is critical to this discussion, because there can be no demand placed on a man who has not submitted to the process. If I am yet to give my life to Jesus, and submit totally to Him, it will be difficult for my life to produce anything resembling what has been laid out in the verse above. The issue of identity is therefore the right place to start: have I accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Is He fully in charge, or am I attempting to share the throne with competing interests? God does not do half-measures; He is either in total control or someone/something else is.
The Contention:
It is when identity is sorted that the issue of evidence and fruit become relevant. I note that kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is possible for anyone to be kind, but to have the Holy Spirit in you is to have divine help to keep at it, even when it is inconvenient, or even when it hurts, and no one seems to care. After all, you are not kind because you need applause or approval from men, but because you understand the demands of the God who calls you to Himself. This is one of the many dimensions of the fruit which can never go against God's law, or even any human law. I am yet to see any country's laws that can make loving other people illegal. The lives of other people form the platform for the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. This is why God does not take me away as soon as I am saved, but He leaves me here to touch lives on His behalf. As I dare to be different from the world, that is how the world can take note of the difference my life makes.
The Conclusion:
The physical evidence of the fruit will be made manifest in different ways. When the squeeze comes on my life, something must flow out. Whatever or whoever is on my inside will answer when life comes knocking. I must therefore make every effort to ensure my content is right, if the impact on other lives will be right, and I can also end right. What is in me cannot be hidden, and it will flow out one way or the other. I have the perfect example to emulate, which is a God who loved me when I was not really nice. I had forsaken and rejected Him, turning my back on Him, yet His love will not let me go. He went in search of me and found me, paid the price for my eternal redemption, and then set me on earth to represent Him. That which I have received must not be kept to myself; may God help me so that His life in me can be a blessing to the world I am in. I am forgiven; who do I need to extend the same grace to? God's time of favour is here.
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