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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: I don’t know much about God but I love to quote a passage my grandmother taught me as a child about the fruit of the Spirit. It seems that if every person would take those wonderful words to heart it could change our relationships, our communities, our country, and the world. — F.S.

Dear F.S.: The Bible teaches us that God is one, but He is manifested in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is hard to understand the Christian life without understanding the person and the work of God’s Spirit, but what a marvelous picture we have in the New Testament book of Galatians 5.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23, 25). We cannot do this on our own, but as children of God He gives us the gift of His Spirit that resides within us and helps us live according to His example and His loving commands.
This cluster of fruit should characterize the life of every Christ-born child of God. We’re to be filled with love, joy, and peace. We’re to exhibit patience and extend gentleness and kindness to those we meet. We’re to be filled with goodness, meekness, and temperance. As we grow in Christ and put Him on the throne of our lives, God’s Spirit becomes dominate in our thinking and in our actions.
God intends for Christians to live on the highest plane, bearing the fruit of His Spirit because it’s His Spirit that empowers us. When we’re praying daily for the Lord to empower us, our desire for immorality, dishonesty, jealousy and all these other things that beset man can no longer find a place in our lives to dwell. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)