Eigenlijk behoorde dit artikel éerst gelezen te worden vóor de andere 'Els'
About self-control.
Dear Els,
You wrote referring to my last biblestudy:
Dear ger, The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Teacher, who tells me no, when my self tries to come to the front, I forget him at times, when my tongue runs away with me, words just come out of my mouth words I have not thought about before I speak, then I have to say sorry to the person I have spoken too, and ask to be forgiven, He is my joy, my tears, and I love him so much his name in Hebrew is Ruach Ha' Kodesh, He has priceless Jewels of Wisdom open to everyone, who seeks them with a humble heart. Elshevia.
My answer only focusses on thís part of your letter: "I forget him ( the Holy Spirit) at times, when my tongue runs away with me, words just come out of my mouth, words I have not thought about before. I speak...... then I have to say 'sorry' to the person I have spoken to, and ask to be forgiven".
But Els......
You know that 1 Corinth 12 is speaking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Of course you know them.( 7-11).
But in Galatians 5 you find the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You know them of course too.(7). "But the fruit of the Spirit is: - love, joy, peace - patience, kindness - goodness, faithfulness - gentleness and SELF-CONTROL.
Els.....several people are exercising with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And at a certain level they can not go forward with: - wisdom, knowledge, faith - gifts of healing, miraculous powers - prophecy, ability to distinghuish between spirits - ability to speak in different kinds of tongues* - interpretation of tongues
*every Christian filled by the Holy Spirit should speak in tongues. But 'different kinds of tongues' is still richer.
And then they discovered the fruit of the Holy Spirit and asked the Holy Spirit to help them with that too.
And one of the nine parts of this fruit is: SELF-CONTROL.
If you are lacking in that peace of the fruit you can always ask to God in his grace and mercy to work in you, what you cannot work yourself. And then time comes that you also get with divine help control over your tongue.
James 3 v 5-10 says about the tongue the following wise things: "The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire... a world of evil among the parts of the body. IT CORRUPTS THE WHOLE PERSON, sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil , full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likenss. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. MY BROTHERS, THIS SHOULD NOT BE".
Now you, Els, always ask for forgiveness. That is a good thing. But still better is it to know that the Holy Spirit can also help us, regarding this. We should strive for this part of his fruit too....and with the help of God we shall be conquerors on this part of the front too.
