Character

by Rev. Carol Arvin

{!firstname} there is an old saying that goes something like this, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and you can fool part of the people part of the time; but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.” I have a saying of my own which I believe has a merit of truth in it too so, here it is, “Time is a friend it reveals truth.”

Of course there are some things in which only God knows the truth; but, generally given enough time situations will be exposed for what they really are. Jesus said this in Luke 12:3(KJ) “therefore whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which you have spoken in the ear shall be proclaimed upon the house tops“;

Luke 8:17 reads, “For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad (come to light and be made known).”

In high school I had a history teacher that liked to give his students little amusing stories at times to enhance the history lessons he happened to be teaching at the time. One of these stories went like this,” If you seen something that looks like an animal and moves, has a somewhat short tail, a wide bill, feathers which it oils with it’s bill, it waddles when it walks, has webbed feet, goes to water and swims, quacks, and acts like a duck; you might draw the conclusion that you are looking at a duck. And you would be right”.

The Lord admonishes us not to judge others, but he did teach that we will know people by their fruits. What is inside of a person’s heart is what makes up their nature or character.

Jesus taught what is in a man’s heart will come out of their mouth in their speech. He put it like this: a good man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh ( KJ Luke 6:45).

World Deception

In today’s world there is much deception. How is a person to know where people are really at especially, if they are meeting someone for the first time? After all when we meet someone new, they could be putting on a false front telling us what they think we want to hear. For all we know they could be putting on a false front in their actions as well towards you and around you. The fact that deceptions exists makes it hard for people who are sincere and truthful. But, time will eventually reign in the situations and truth will come to light.

2 Fruits

One of the main ways to evaluate where a person might be at is to look at the spiritual fruits in their lives. The bible talks about two different kinds of fruits that people produce. They will produce good fruit, or they will produce bad or evil fruit in their lives. Jesus said, “By their fruits you shall know them”. (Matthew 7:16-20).

In this parable Jesus is giving the examples of two different types of trees and the fruit they will produce. In these scriptures Jesus likens us unto trees; and he admonishes us to produce good fruits.

What does he mean by fruits? Galatians 5:22 admonishes us as Christians to produce the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. These fruits are love, peace, joy, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (KJ.1John 4:16).

I will give examples of some of the fruits of the spirit in a moment but, right now I feel to ask you {!firstname}; if you are reading this teaching and do not know my Jesus as your personal savior; and if you are feeling a tugging at your heart to accept him as your personal savior right now: Don’t put it off until later, no one is promised tomorrow. Just say this simple prayer, “Lord I am sorry that I have sinned against you. Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and save me from my sins and to fill me with your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name amen (Romans 10: 9-13). If you meant this prayer from your heart you are now a born again Christian!

If you do not have a church home ask the Lord to lead you to a church that teaches the word of God from the bible, and is a soul winning, Spiritual fruit producing body of believers. Read the bible every day and ask the Lord to give you understanding, and revelation of his word, ask of Him to guide you daily and your life will be different from this time on. (John 3:3-8, 2Corth. 6:2, 2Timothy 2:15, Exd.20:8).

Fruit of His Love

As born again children of God the fruit of His love should begin to be developed unto fullness in our lives. I like 1Corinthians 13 which is the love chapter in the bible. I like this chapter because it gives us examples of the attributes the fruits of the Spirit which should be at work in our lives.

These scriptures are examples of the Spiritual fruits that we should allow to develop in our lives. I believe all the fruits of the Spirit build on, and from the foundational corner stone fruit of Love. Here are the examples that are given in chapter thirteen:

• Charity (Love) suffers long, is kind, doesn’t envy, vaunted (boast), is not puffed up, does not behave its self unseemly( acts grossly improper, doesn’t behave according to established standards of good taste)
•  is not puffed up(pride), seeks not her own(selfish), is not easily provoked (anger), does not think evil, rejoices not in iniquity (gross in justice), rejoices in truth; love beareth all things (covers, protects),
• believes all things (believes in others- is ready to believe the best of every person – practice looking for the best in people),
• hopeth all things (its hope is endless under all circumstances*believe God’s word above circumstances) love endures everything [without weakening] – (I believe to endure means to hold fast. To me it’s acting with integrity while going through tough situations).

Joseph in the Old Testament is an example of someone who stayed loyal to God in his actions. He stayed faithful to God even though he was sold into slavery, then was tempted by a woman as she tried to seduce him but, he acted honorably before God and ran from the temptation. Because he fled from her, she lied about Joseph to her husband because he wouldn’t sin with her, he was put into prison. Although he served time in prison unjustly he honored God.

Therefore God watched over Joseph and exalted him in due season because he had a pure heart before him. The Lord miraculously delivered Joseph and he emerged as the second in command in all of Egypt; thus, saving the race which produced Jesus, the Son of God the author and finisher of our salvation! The bible tells us that love never fails or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.

The Devils Playground

The opposite of love is hate and hate is the devils play ground. There are many works of the flesh that we could say are the fruits of evil that come from the devils influence in peoples lives. Galatians 5:18-21 tells us to be led of the Spirit of God that we don’t fulfill the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:19 reads: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these];

1). Adultery – (cheating on ones spouse)
2). Fornication- (not in holy wed lock – before marriage)
3). Uncleanness- (spirit of impurity- evil spirit),
4). Lasciviousness- (given to expressing lust, lewd, in exciting sexual desires – like much of what is seen in movies, on some TV shows, and commercials, books, bill boards, computers, etc)
5). Idolatry – (worship of idols, (blind or excessive devotion to something)
6). Witchcraft. (Use of sorcery, or magic)
7). Hatred – (variance discord, disagree, dispute, dissent*failure to conform Emulations (jealousy, envy)
8). Wrath – strife (competition, cut-and-thrust-contest, conflict, rivalry), 9). Sedations – (dissensions, uproar, insurrections) heresies (contrary, in opposition to, peculiar opinions),
10). Envyings – (jealousy)
11). Murders – (sin of killing another)
12) Drunkenness- (intoxication- disturbed from normal function due to alcohol)
12). Revel lings – (carouse, carry on, indulge with out restraint, make merry often with liquor).

These scriptures plainly tell us that they who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! In light of this scripture may we walk circumspectly keeping these things in mind for surly we are in the last days just before the coming of the Lord. The fruits that are brought forth from persons heart, whether they are active for good or evil will be observed by others and transcend all walks of life from the wealthiest to the poorest of people.

Our God is no respecter of persons, and he tries the reigns of the hearts of people. It would perhaps behoove us to take inventory of ourselves to see what kind of fruits we are producing. My mother had a saying that goes like this, “Good, better, best; never let it rest until the good is better, and the better is best”. May we strive to bring forth good fruits in our lives.

 

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