I taught the 5th chapter of Galations Sunday.  The "Fruit of the Spirit" chapter.  Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, (patience) gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.  Nine of the qualities of a Christian.  If you have ever wondered if God's Spirit dwells in you, examine yourself.  Do you exhibit those qualities?  I'm not saying that you are perfect all the time, every day.  But they are indicators of your inner self.  The "Who" of who you are since Christ came into your life..  I've got the first three of them nailed.  Love, joy and peace.  Every day.  All the time.

But patience, well, that has been a harder quality for me.  And if it weren't for God's grace, I wouldn't be able to improve in that category at all.  Because my nature is impatient.  But looking back over my life, I can tell that with the help of Christ Himself, I'm more patient than I used to be.

And "gentleness," well, you can tell by the way I write that I have a tendency to be blunt.  I say what I think when keeping my mouth shut might be a better way to go.  But once again, I can look back and see where I used to be, and where I am now.  God's not done with me yet.

And "goodness?"  In the eyes of the world, I would be judged as a good person.  But God, once again, isn't done shaping me.  He's getting me ready for heaven.  I've got two of the last three--faith and temperance down pat.  But meekness, I'm not so sure.

Examine yourself.  Can you see God at work perfecting Himself in you.  "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Left to ourselves we would be doomed.  But Jesus is changing us from the inside out.

If you want to get a real hard check on yourself, look at verses 19-21.  Paul names 17 qualities that people who are't Christians exhibit--and he says that if you do these things, you will not inherit the kingdom of God:  Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like.  Stuff like that does not come from an indwelling Spirit.  Those are the sins of the world--the temptations put in front of us by the "Prince of the power of the air...who roams the world seeking whom he may devour."  I don't know which group you are in, but if it is this second group of behaviors, I would get on my knees and repent immediately.  Let God's Spirit in to change your life.