The Invitation/ Prepared/ Built Into Divine Nature

Temperance: Is Love’s Enabler

Rom 15:13-14 June 1, 1999

Just as the fruit of Love is needed as a nutrient for all the other fruits, temperance is an aggregate of all the fruits combined.

Temperance is more than just abstaining from lusts and carnal appetites, though it is certainly that. We should be filled with the Spirit rather than wine.

Temperance is the balance of all the fruits together so that nothing but love dominates. Temperance blends and molds joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and meekness with the right proportions of faith and belief in the goodness of God and God alone.

Balance: Truth/Mercy as one in scripture:

Psalms (14 times): 25:10, 31:6-7, 40:10-11, 57:3&10, 61:7, 69:13, 85:10, 86:15, 89:14, 98:3, 100:5, 108:4, 117, 138:2.
Proverbs (3 times): 3:3, 16:6, 20:28.

The essence of temperance is the combining of Mercy with Truth that goes such a long way to producing the right blend that makes up love. Temperance sees to it that the fruits are put at God’s disposal according to His timing and His need. Temperance is an enabler of love.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” Rom 15:13-14

Our joy, peace, goodness and faith, along with the other fruits will be made evident in our natural and orderly routine of daily life in Christ. Through our temperate and modest life, love can grow and be fruitful.

Dear Soul – Seek balance.

Truth and mercy can only be blended by the miraculous hand of the Spirit of God reaching in and changing the heart of Man.