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Character in Marriage - SELF-CONTROL

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We have been doing an in-depth study on character from Galatians 5:22-23 using the fruit of the Spirit as our theme. The fruit of the Spirit are nine character traits that we should all exhibit especially if we are in a long-term relationship like marriage.  Marriage only works well when the partners have mastered the right character traits. They don't fly off the handle even when they think it is justified to do so. It is interesting how things can end differently if you just step back, take a deep breath and hold your tongue; and I'll talk about this a bit more today using my marriage as an example.  Like I said, our theme scripture is Galatians 5:22-23 and the character trait we will be looking at today is Self-control ! But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [gentleness, self-control . Against such there is no law - Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV So what is Self-Control?  “ Self-control according to the dictionary is the ab

Character in Marriage - GENTLENESS

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  I hope these articles on character have been a blessing and an eye-opener to you. Marriage is work. It is hard work and that is why happily-ever-after does not just happen; you have to work at it. When a couple first get married, they believe that it will be happily ever after but a lot of the time, they will not do the work that happily-ever-afters demands.  They expect that their love for each will help them through any tough times but this is not true. For those who are married or have been in relationships, you will agree that love is not enough to keep a relationship strong. That is why we have been learning about godly character and like I have said over and over during these series, christian marriages would have a better chance of survival if the parties in the marriage exhibited godly character.  So we will go back to our theme scripture, Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [gentleness , self-co

Character in Marriage - FAITHFULNESS

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We continue our study on Christian character and today we will look at faithfulness. Our theme scripture remains the same. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness , [gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV Can you tell that these character traits would make a huge difference if you would just incorporate them into your life? Start now if you have not yet begun to develop them. Start with one character trait and it will lead to others. You see, all these character traits (fruit of the Spirit), originate from the Spirit of God and once you begin to practice or develop one character trait, it leads to developing others too.  Situations tend to bring out character traits that are undesirable when we lack godly character. That is why arguments between couples get out of hand. One or both partners chose to yield to their emotions when they disagree. Now imagine if you begin to develop and practice

Character in Marriage - GOODNESS

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  We continue to discuss character in the home and today's character trait is interesting. It is goodness and our theme scripture remains the same.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness , faithfulness, [gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law -  Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV Goodness!!! (I am not referring to the exclamation - “Oh my goodness” which is usually used to express shock, surprise or awe) So, what is goodness? Well, let's start with the word Good  from which the word goodness is derived. It means to the required qualities and at a high standard. It also means to be morally upright. In the Bible, the word good means moral goodness but also refers to outward beauty that is aesthetically pleasing. The second meaning was what God meant during the creation in Genesis 1. Everything he made was good or aesthetically pleasing. So God is good inside out. He is morally upright and aesthetically pleasing. Or better put, the