“Character Mountain” of God

I love the idea of the “Fruits of the Spirit” Since I was a boy I have always heard of the fruits.
  However I never really understood that they are not emotions, they are not feelings, they are actual parts of our character that the Lord longs to produce over time… Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

Look at the first one;
Love. We as simple humans know the idea of love when it comes to the opposite sex, or a puppy, but the “Love” that is an actual part of your character is something different. This love is only known when the light switches on and you
become love. Once you become love, you will never want anything but that love, the actual person of Jesus Christ!

What does that kind of “Love” produce?
Joy. Not that I am happy for a moment, not even excited, but the character of joy is always with you and never leaves because again it was produced by love. What does Joy produce?
Peace. Again, not that I feel calm about something, but the “peace of God that surpasses all understanding” it’s a peace that NO matter what, everything belongs and everything will be ok. Man, does our world need that character deep within them right now!

You are climbing this “ Character Mountain” of God, finding the true Love of Christ which for many of us for the first time produces joy, and once we have joy in our lives, we finally have a peace that we do not, and people cannot understand!
 

Then, of course, once I have the peace of God in all situations, no matter what life and the enemy have to throw at me, it produces
Patience. Personally, I believe this is where most Christians I know wrestle for most of their lives. Finding true patience, not sometimes I’m patient, I have patience for some people, but not others. Instead patience as who I am, my character, is something you do not see very often.

Right at the top of this “ Character Mountain” is
Kindness, being “Kind” in all and every situation. Once you reach the top and find that you are “kindness” you begin the journey down the other side to
Goodness. Most Christians that have walked with God for 30, 40 years begin to learn this thing called goodness, good all the time. Goodness produces the character of
Faithfulness. My 66 year old mom, who has been serving the Lord her whole life,
is “kindness” The kindness you expect from Jesus when you meet him. Kindness then produces
Gentleness, (have you ever met “Gentleness”)? I picture an 80 something year old, Godly servant of Christ, that as you walk in the room, they light up and embrace you as a child. Gentleness full grown gives us “
Self-Control”

My goal, as I climb this mountain, is to become self-control, I have a ways to go. Where are you on this mountain of God? Galatians 5:22-23