9 fruits of the spirit scripture (Part 2)

[Angee Licaa]

5. Lenient

Saint Hieronymus describes kindness as follows: "Mercy, also called gentle, (because the Greek word restores implies both meanings) is a virtue of gentleness, attractiveness leading others through soft words and tolerant manners”. Fruits of the spirit wall art

Kindness appears to be no different from loving-kindness (as will be seen below) because both are action-oriented. However, the two sides differ in that a person who is “kind-hearted” may have a grimace on his face because he has experienced many hardships in his life; They are ready to help others when needed. Kind people are easy to love because of their cheerful and gentle attitude, making others like to approach them to make friends.

Paul is not afraid to summarize Christ's entire saving plan as an expression of "God's goodness and love (Humanitas)" for us (Titus 3:4). wants to highlight that God wants to be sworn in with man, He wants to appear as someone who cares for people with tenderness.

6. From the heart

In everyday language, it is difficult to distinguish the words "kind", "merciful", "beneficial", and "kind". An example: when a man came to Jesus and said, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life", and Jesus replied, "Why do you say I am good? There is no one good, except God” (Mt 10:17-18). Here, perhaps, it should be translated as "good", because, according to Saint Ambrose, this place is talking about evangelical perfection. However, the saint continued, the perfect person is one who is friendly with his neighbors, and does not impose anything heavy. Goodness, as a fruit of the Spirit, works not only in the heart, but also manifests itself in relationships with others (preaching, helping, devotion). Deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, good people show themselves not only through a couple of good deeds but also through a determined will to live their ideals in a society full of evil: they do not return evil for evil. , but to repay evil with good, according to the counsel of the Apostle (Rom 12:17-21).

7. Loyalty

Vulgata named this fruit "fides" and caused much controversy: how can a divine (theological) virtue become a fruit of the Spirit? In fact, in the Hebrew language, “believe” (Pistis) has many meanings: to trust, to rely on. Believing is not just accepting a truth based on the credibility of others; To believe is to rely on, to cling to someone. Faith is also associated with hope. In addition, believing also carries with it the idea of persistence, not changing positions.

With so many connotations, it is no wonder that this characteristic is also applied in the Bible to God: He is "faithful" to his promises, despite the times when people break them. God is faithful and does not change his will to save (James 1:17). Based on this faithfulness, how many psalms have cried out to the Lord: "Remember your love, O Lord, remember your faithfulness, come and set us free" (Ps 26, 6). In the New Testament, Christ is proclaimed as the eternal Amen of God faithful to the promises: “Christ, the Son of God… is not both a 'yes' and a 'no', but in him only all 'yes'. Indeed, all of God's promises are 'yes' in him. Therefore, it is also through him that we exclaim 'Amen' to the glory of God" (2 Cor 1:19-20). After all, God is faithful because He is Truth, and at the same time He is Love. As Love, He wants to communicate Himself to us; He loves us, so he doesn't want to deceive us.

8. Gentle

Gentle is on the list of eight blessings. Meekness, accompanied by poverty in spirit, corresponds to the same Hebrew word: He who is poor in the sight of the Lord is naturally meek to his brother. Jesus and lion canvas

So we can say that meekness is seen as a characteristic of the Holy Spirit, a sentiment towards others that is expressed in the way we treat others.

Gentleness can be described negatively as the ability not to allow oneself to be carried away by anger beyond its cause, i.e. not to allow oneself to be carried away by irrational emotion. . Anger can be a legitimate response, so it takes meekness to govern it insofar as it is based on truth and love. Sometimes the Gospels recount Jesus being angry, for example when he drove a merchant out of the temple (Mt 21:12-13; Mk 11:15-19; Ecclesiastes 2:1-36); but this anger in defense of higher values has been violated. It comes from a heart that is always united with the Father, so it is not a passion, but a warning to violators of God's rights.

9. Self-control

According to the Vulgata translation, moral theology applies to the domain of abstinence and chastity and includes not only sins related to the sexual sphere but also to the realm of eating. There are other authors who understand Enertia as self-control and apply it to any sin that is emotional, beyond the control of reason, such as anger, violence, and cursing.

In fact, one can understand “self-control” in many ways:

- First of all, mastering lustful passions in all forms. Paul uses the image of athletes who must abstain from everything in order to win the prize (1 Cor 9:25). This invites us to refuse even to do what is permissible, in order to attain heavenly reward.

Self-control also means giving up the “intention to hegemony”, the tendency to want to dominate others. Instead, it is a feeling of respect for others, recognizing that they are also children of God.

Self-control also means that refusing to do things (restricting the use of wealth, limiting food) not only has the value of controlling instinct but also has a social value, which is to share and serve the needy brothers and sisters.

Nevertheless, self-control is essential for coexistence in society: elements will not seek to dominate others, to impose the power of force; On the contrary, they seek to serve the common good, especially to support the lonely, encourage the timid, and timid.