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The Fruit of the Spirit
Today, I will discuss how the fruits of the Holy Spirit affects Christians when they are dating. First of all, let us study what the Bible says (in the translation called English Standard Version): “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ” Galatians 5:22-23.
Now, after we have realized what the Bible says, I will continue the discussion about how the fruits of the Holy Spirit applies to dating.
If you want to learn my personal opinion about whether Christians shall date and whether Christians shall date non-Christians, and also the old article written by the whole team about the do’s and don’ts for Christian dating, you are more than welcome to read those articles too. If you want to date other Christians, I recommend that you join this dating website.
Without further ado, I will now begin my article…
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
As you can read yourself, these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit and these should be used to guide us as Christians in our everyday life as well as in our love life.
The first of the seven fruits that the apostle Paul writes about is love. Now, the English word love is just one word but as it has been taught in the Christian church since the days of the apostles and even furthermore since the church founder Augustine there are two different kinds of love that the Bible speaks about: The spiritual, self-giving love who does not acquire any verification by another human and the other love, which requires verification by another human being.
The question has to be asked: Which kind of love is Paul discussing in this text? The answer is that in the original Greek text the word ἀγάπη (agape) makes it clear: It is the first kind of love, the one that does not seek any confirmation in love from another human being that is discussed by the apostle Paul. This kind of unwanting love is the kind of love that Jesus displayed when he was crucified for our sins, knowing that we might not love him back and thank him for what he has done for us.
Now, if it were the second one, it would be the other kind of love, the one we are looking for in another human being. The Greek word for that kind of love is ἐρὸς (Eros) which could be translated as erotic love or love of the flesh. This kind of love is the one that Adam showed when he impregnated Eve, the love who requests love from another human being.
The question now comes to mind: Can Christians date others and feel love for them without demanding the wanting love of Adam? Yes, we can, but not by ourselves, since we still want that kind of love too. But do not worry, Christ and God’s word will help us. If we read just one more verse, Galatians 5:24 we learn that our erotic passions and desires have been crucified with Christ.
Now for the second fruit of the Spirit, joy it is important to acknowledge that dating should be a joyful and fun experience and that should be one of the reasons why we date and also a feeling associated with our Christians brothers and sisters as well as the congregation and the church we belong to, which may vary but all churches are different limbs in the world-wide web of Churches, the body of Christ.
The third fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace. This word in Greek, εἰρήνη (Eirini), could be translated as perfect peace, the kind of peace that were established by God in Genesis before the fall of man (Genesis 1-3) and that also were present for a short time after the flood of Noah (Genesis 6-10) until the confusion of languages in Babylon (Genesis 11:1-9). This particular Greek word is closely related to the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) which sometimes means perfect peace or well-being and that is something we need to feel when we are together with another human being, we need to be comfortable in our own skins and feel at peace with ourselves and the person we are dating.
The fourth fruit of the Holy Spirits is patience. When you are dating someone, you need to be patient. Why? Because it takes a lot of time to actually know another human being. If you rush things, chances are that you will end up in a failed relationship. Take your time and get to know the person you are dating.
Kindness is the fifth fruit of the Spirit. This is another important quality you should look for in another human being as well as the sixth fruit of the Holy Spirit, goodness. If someone is not good to you, he or she is never worth your time. These two words are two of the key factors you should look for in another human being.
The seventh and last fruit of the Holy Spirit is yet another key quality you should look for in another human being: faithfulness. If someone is constantly unfaithful, he or she is not worth your time. Move on and date someone who is faithful and will remain that way for the rest of your lives.
Fruits of the Spirit
Now, the time has come for me to summarize how the fruits of the Holy Spirit applies to dating.
Four of the fruits of the Spirit applies directly to key qualities in another human being: Kindness, patience, goodness, and faithfulness.
The second fruit of the Holy Spirit is also important when you are dating someone else: joy. If you don’t feel joyful, you will not find peace either and those are two key elements that will help you decide if you should continue to date this person and maybe begin a committed relationship with or not.
Lastly, but not least, the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, love, is what you should look for in another human being and you should fall in love with that person. However, it should be the kind of love that do not seek verification by the love of another human being by allowing our erotic passions and desires to be crucified with Christ (Galatians 5:24).
Next Article
My next article will be published on the 10th of July 2017.
It will discuss the importance of being yourself when you are dating.
Have a nice day,
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