What a contrast we see here from the world’s wisdom of envy and self-ambition. Look at these characteristics…

— Pure: rejecting anything that compromises the goodness of God
— Peace-loving: committed to unity with fellow believers
— Gentle: a willingness to meet others’ needs
— Compliant: willing to defer to others as long as God’s moral truths and theology aren’t compromised
— Full of mercy: compassionate and forgiving to one another
— Good fruits: merciful, gentle, peace-loving acts
— Unwavering: treating people equitably regardless of outward appearance and without concern about what others might say
— Without pretense: not being hypocritical, but sincerely loving others as God instructs us to do

It’s a lot to live up to, isn’t it? On my own, I will likely fall flat on my face. But when we lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, then we can display these characteristics that point others to Jesus. There’s a beautiful end result for practicing these characteristics. We’ll explore it tomorrow.