Cultivating the FRUIT of the Spirit! What do you Practice?

One of the best ways to practice is to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit - the character qualities the Holy Spirit builds within us - if we allow Him.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)
Each character quality is something the Spirit of God wants to produce within us. This tells me that one of the best ways to cooperate with His working is to practice being loving, being joyful, keeping a heart of peace, and so forth. He is faithful to bear these fruits in our lives as we are faithful to practice them.

Take a moment to rate yourself on each of these characteristics. Which ones do you need to practice? (Hint: The areas you most need to practice are those that are least practiced now.)

Read each definition that follows. Then evaluate where you stand and determine which areas you need to prioritize for practice.

                              Least Practiced                                                            Most Practiced
Love            1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Joy              1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Peace          1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Patience      1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Kindness      1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Goodness     1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Faithfulness 1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Gentleness   1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10
Self control  1         2        3            4           5            6          7         8          9           10

Love

Am I consistently committed to helping others develop and discover God's very best in their lives? Do I treat others as God would treat them?

Joy 

Do I trust the fact that god is in control of every situation, regardless of how it looks to me? Do I take my joy from knowing this, or do I tend to draw my contentment from pleasant situations and circumstances?

Peace

Do I bring calming effect to every situation, or do I stir up people's feathers? Am I a reconciler or an instigator? Do I tend to fix the blame or fix the problem?

Patience

Do I give people room to fail, and then help them look for the lessons of life that can be extracted from that failure? Or do I keep score of hits and errors?

Kindness

Am I kind? When working with people under my supervision or care, do I appeal to them kindly? Or do I have the tendency to order them around? How do I behave toward my family?

Goodness

Is the core of my heart good? Do I want the success of others, or do I look out only for myself, regardless of what happens to others?

Faithfulness

Am I loyal? Can I keep confidences, or do I have tendency to share private information about others? Am I a faithful spouse or do I emotionally court other relationships?

Gentleness

How do I deal with others' failures, especially if it affects me? Am I more concerned about my welfare or theirs?

Self-control

Do I control my thoughts or do they stray? Am I able to discipline my emotions and sexual desires?

Take time to practice these character qualities God is wanting to build in you and express through you. The more you practice these things, the more fruitful you'll be in your life.

 What are your most practiced characteristics? Which fruit is most practiced in your life? Feel free to share below. 

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