Thoughts about Treasured Fruits

God gives me LOVE -so fear must go

And with His JOY, strength overflows

He gives such PEACE the world cannot know

and LONGSUFFERING to pursue great hope

He trades His GENTLENESS for my rage

so GOODNESS can follow me all my days

sure FAITH to know He carries my need

and MEEKNESS instead  of pride and greed

TEMPERANCE to see that abiding in Christ

brings treasured fruits of the abundant life

With each fruit of the Spirit, there is an antithesis for each.  We are all too familiar with these:  Fear instead of love; turmoil instead of peace; impatience instead of longsuffering; harshness for gentleness; evil for goodness;  distrust instead of faith; pride in the place of meekness; lack of self control instead of temperance.   Just one of these replacements can wreak havoc.

The beauty is the commitment of our Savior to want to continue walking with us.  Is our choice to walk in the Spirit (at the moment our flesh wants to take over, allowing the Spirit to take control) what it means to abide? …just thinking out loud… would love to hear your thoughts.