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Against such there is no law! God be thanked, no! When a man's whole soul has been illuminated, so that it burns day and night with the lambent, sweet flame of love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, and hopefulness, when this is his habitual frame of mind, or a frame of mind so nearly habitual that only the occasion is necessary to bring it out in full force, then there is no law for him. Under such circumstances men do right, not because the way of doing right is laid down before them. It was once; but long ago they digested it just as food is digested, and it has become part and parcel of their organization. This is to be a Christian — a ripe Christian. A man may be a Christian, and excel in many things; but here is the portraiture; and an imperfect portrait is no portrait at all. If a portrait-painter should draw one half of a face and leave the other half blank, nobody would take it; or, if he should draw the forehead and eyes perfectly, and leave the nose out, nobody would take that. The glory of the face is in the symmetry of all its parts; and the glory of a Christian character does not lie in this excellence or that excellence — good as it may be and desirable — but in the harmony of all excellences... This is the measure by which we can examine ourselves; not to know whether we are in the faith, but to know how far we have progressed in the faith. How many things are yet burdensome duties? How many things are yet done with a painful self-denial: I believe in self-denial; but I believe that all self-denial should, after a very short time, become gracious and sweet; for all self-denial is in its last analysis but the overcoming of a lower impulse by the interference of a higher one; and every single step we take up, should make that which in the beginning was painful less and less so, until it positively becomes pleasurable. How many victories of that kind have you gained? How many are you striving after: Do you ask yourselves how many of you have been constant in family prayers, constant in the Sunday-school, constant in the Word of God? All of these things are very good; but they do not produce fruit necessarily, any more than if a farmer should go round his farm every day, clear to the boundaries, but never plant anything, never hoe anything, never plough anything, but simply look at everything, and people should say: "Oh, he is a good farmer, isn't he:" A good farmer is known at reaping time. There are a great many people who read the Bible and pray. That is all very well indeed; but they do not practise so much. These are the outward indications of what is right and proper; but it is the inward registration that tells. And in all self-examination it must come to this. How much of my nature is really exalted? How much of it has become automatic: How much of my mind is pure and high, according to the gracious qualities of my Master? Am I living in these states of mind from day to day, and habitually?

(H. W. Beecher.)

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KJV: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

WEB: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,