by Randall Caselman<\/p>\n
When Jesus genuinely, truly comes into our lives, things change. Opening our hearts to His presence means we’ll never be the same.<\/p>\n
Go with me to a well outside the city of Sychar. Jesus, tired from the journey, sat down by the well. A Samaritan woman came. She and Jesus struck up a conversation about religion, and her life was never the same. This woman evidently gave up her sinful ways and began to tell her friends and neighbors about her encounter with Jesus. This impressed them, and many came to believe in Him. Her change, her testimony, led to their salvation.<\/p>\n
Paul gives us insight into what happens when Jesus comes to make His home in our hearts when he wrote: “The fruit of the Spirit <\/em>[The result of opening our hearts to Jesus] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit<\/em>” (Galatians 5:22,25). No wonder Paul is found saying, “Christ in you, the hope of Glory<\/em>” (Colossians 1:27).<\/p>\n Well, how? How do we know we have Christ in our hearts? Only if we are harvesting the fruit of the Spirit of Him who lives in us!<\/p>\n Love is an indication that we have the spirit of Jesus in us, that He is living in our hearts. We must not argue this point because this is exactly what John says: “We also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us… Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another<\/em>” (I John 4:11-12, 21)<\/p>\n When Jesus got ready to paint a picture of love, He painted a word picture of a shepherd braving the wilds for a lost sheep; a father embracing, in total acceptance, a prodigal son who came home. Jesus gives us an everyday application of love when He said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.<\/em>“<\/p>\n Joy comes when we are the person we know we ought to be. Joy is the result of obedience. Joy is feeling good because we are guiltless, forgiven, heaven-bound people. Joy is knowing that God is our Father, that He is in control, working things out to our benefit, to our good and betterment. Joy springs from the spirit of Jesus living within us.<\/p>\n Jesus is spoken of as being the “Prince of Peace<\/em>” (Isaiah 9:6). He brings us peace with God because “in Him sins are forgiven<\/em>” (Acts 10:43), peace with others because we treat them as brothers. I think Paul tells us how best to gain such peace: “place the interest of others before that of your own and do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit<\/em>” (Philippians 2:3-4). “But as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone<\/em>” (Romans 12:18). Jesus brings us peace within because we know we are right with God, and like David, He will shepherd us through every situation: “I will be with you always<\/em>” (Matthew 28:20). “I will never leave you, never forsake you<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:5). Know Jesus, know peace!<\/p>\n The Greek word translated as “patience” has no exact English equivalent and is usually rendered as “long-suffering” in the King James. It literally means to be long-tempered. It speaks of our ability to press on in the face of difficult people and circumstances. Like Jesus, we must keep on keeping on in the face of untimely interruptions, criticism, and even when harsh words are spoken. Peter said this about the spirit of Jesus: “When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, he entrusted Himself to God who judges justly<\/em>” (I Peter 2:23).<\/p>\n Those who have Jesus in their heart are just plain good. Goodness is the result of good thinking. Paul indicates we are to think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. We must let go of ugly thinking!<\/p>\n Faith is a trust in God, trusting Him for continual forgiveness and salvation. Faithfulness is obedience, fidelity, loyalty to His commands. Faithfulness is being right and doing right. It is by being and doing right that we are justified.<\/p>\n Gentleness is meekness in our King James. The world says, “Be tough, be a John Wayne, be like Rambo.” The Bible tells us to be gentle, as Jesus was. Gentleness is being kind and loving to others even when they mistreat and abuse us. Gentleness in turning the other cheek.<\/p>\n I think the idea here is moderation, self-restraint. Like Jesus, we are to subdue and control our emotions and become masters of our passions and desires. Scripture tells us: “Those who belong to Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires<\/em>” (Galatians 5:24).<\/p>\n May we, like Paul, be able to say: “It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me<\/em>” (Galatians 2:20). Amen?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Randall Caselman When Jesus genuinely, truly comes into our lives, things change. Opening our hearts to His presence means we’ll never be the same. Go with me to a well outside the city of Sychar. Jesus, tired from the journey, sat down by the well. A Samaritan woman came. She and Jesus struck up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[500],"class_list":["post-93912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fruitful"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35856,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-what-was-meant-in-can-we-judge\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":0},"title":"Could you explain what was meant in “Can We Judge?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, \"We have a saying that we should not judge a book by its cover. We cannot judge a man's heart or his motives unless by some means that is revealed. But we can judge sinful behavior.\" This is an extract from one of your lessons. I'm not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bruised\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":1},"title":"Bruised","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel\" (Genesis 3:15). The very first prophecy of \"the seed of the woman\" bruising the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-that-grace-and-truth-came-by-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":2},"title":"What does it mean that grace and truth came by Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeff, I came across these beautiful words from John 1:16-17\u00a0 \"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.\" Can you explain, what does it really means that grace and truth came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89415,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/just-the-hem\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":3},"title":"Just the Hem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Bentom She had spent many years going to different doctors trying to find a cure for her issue of blood. It had plagued her life so much. But she had a wonderful opportunity when the Man who miraculously healed so many others came into her vicinity. She\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG052_filtered-211x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32580,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-jesus-tell-some-people-to-talk-about-his-miracles-and-others-not-to-say-anything\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":4},"title":"Why did Jesus tell some people to talk about his miracles and others not to say anything?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was studying Mark 5 and there are two things I do not understand: Jesus commanded \"Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great thing the Lord hath done for thee\" in Mark 5:19. However, in Mark 5:43, he charged them straightly that no man should know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/because-jesus-was-born\/","url_meta":{"origin":93912,"position":5},"title":"Because Jesus Was Born","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons\" (Galatians 4:4-5). While the Gospels of Matthew\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Love<\/h2>\n
Joy<\/h2>\n
Peace<\/h2>\n
Patience<\/h2>\n
Goodness<\/h2>\n
Faithfulness<\/h2>\n
Gentleness<\/h2>\n
Self-Control<\/h2>\n