BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

attributes! Because God is love, you are love. Because God is patient, you are patient. Because all the fruit of the spirit are His by nature, they are yours too! You are born of God! How To Win the Battle In light of that fact, you may now be wondering why believers so often act like they do. If they are loving by nature, why do they sometimes act like the meanest thing on two legs? It's because, for the most part, they haven't cultivated the new nature. They haven't learned to allow what's on the inside of them to flow to the outside. They haven't learned to yield to the fruit of the spirit. Instead, they continue to yield to fleshly habits they've developed over the years. They give into the devil's badgering, doing what their old sin-trained body wants to do instead of what the new man (or what 1 Peter 3:4 calls "the hidden man of the heart") wants to do. We've all been guilty of that at one time or another. We've all discovered that walking according to our new nature is no stroll in the park. There's a struggle involved. As Galatians 5:17 says: "The desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other]" (AMPC). So when we decide to obey the desires and promptings of our reborn spirit, our flesh starts to fight us. The way to keep from losing that battle and giving in to the flesh is found in Galatians 5:16. It says: "Walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh" (AMPC). The King James Version states: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Many times, people do just the reverse. They work and struggle trying to overcome 2 8 : B V O V I don't want to fall. I don't want to stumble around and miss my destiny. I want to run my God-appointed course and finish it in victory! "I do too, Gloria," you may say. "But I have a problem. I'm just not a very patient person. My personality is harsh—not gentle. And I have a major lack of self-discipline. In other words, these fruit of the spirit just don't come naturally to me." Yes, they do. If you're born again, the fruit of the spirit are part of your new nature. They're your natural "supernatural" disposition! When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, you became "a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your spirit was reborn in the image of your heavenly Father. You were made a partaker of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). God is loving by nature. The Bible says: "God is love" (1 John 4:8). God is joyful by nature. The Bible says: "In thy presence is fulness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). God is good by nature. The Bible says: "The LORD…abundant in goodness" (Exodus 34:6). God is peaceful by nature. The Bible calls Him "the God of peace" (Philippians 4:9). God is patient by nature. Numbers 14:18 says: "The LORD is longsuffering [patient], and of great mercy." God is gentle by nature. David said to Him: "Thy gentleness hath made me great" (Psalm 18:35). God is faithful by nature. Psalm 119:90 says: "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations." God is meek by nature. Jesus—who is exactly like the Father—said: "I am meek" (Matthew 11:29). We know God is temperate by nature because if He were not temperate, none of us would be here anymore! The reason I went through the whole list of the fruit is because I wanted to impress firmly on your mind that they are all attributes of God. And since you've been born again in His image, they are also your Continuing in the Word will make you free from the bondages of the flesh so the fruit of the spirit can flow!"

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