#1 in the Series: ‘Fruit of the Spirit’
Do you like fruit? I am enjoying nectarines and peaches which are in season here now. Do you like to be subjected to longsuffering and having your patience tested? No! And certainly not by preference, but it is a fruit of the Spirit that is helpful for each of us. At times, God does allow us to suffer so that we will grow into the people that we should be, often to then enjoy life more, and to be a good fit into eternal life with Jesus. But my thinking is that I don’t need suffering to become a better person. But oddly enough, that is when most of us learn so much more than we ever could through our studies, or through good times.

Jesus knows all about longsuffering, because he came to be with us, to teach us, to be cruelly treated, and then to die, being hung on a cross. He did this willingly for each one of us, so that all our failures, nasty evil things that we have done (even those nasty thoughts) are treated fairly, justly, and the penalty for those sins paid for in full. Fortunately, this was done by Jesus accepting that penalty, which is freely given to those who sincerely accept him into their lives. God, through the Bible, clearly tells us this. We just need to accept it. Jesus Christ’s longsuffering is for our salvation in this evil world.

Bob explains this for us in simple terms in this video.