The Fruits of Love, Joy, and Peace

Wednesday, June 17, 2020
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

When we become one of God’s children, we immediately have the benefit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, is the fruit we bear – spiritual fruit that we refer to as the fruit of the spirit. Today we will look at the fruits of love, joy, and peace. 

Love
It has been said that Love makes the world go round.  Well, there is some truth in that statement since we are human and as humans, we crave love.  Love is generally associated with feelings and feelings are important.  God wants us to feel love for Him and others, but more than that, God longs for us to experience a greater love, beyond any human emotions. 

This incredible love can only come from one place and that is from God.  1 John 4:7 says Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  God showed His love for us first by giving us life and a beautiful world to live in. Then He gave His son as the ultimate sacrifice of love for us.  He has shown us mercy and grace and wants us to show love, mercy and grace to the world, the fruit of the spirit flowing from our lives.  God wants His love to stay in a continuous stream from Him, to us, out of us to others and to Him. 

Love covers a multitude of sins – and forgives a multitude of offenses.  In our human nature, it is only through the love of our savior can we set aside differences, forgive each other, and love one another.  Right now, our hurting world needs some of this love more than anything else. 

Joy

Let’s face it, there are just some days that are very hard days and the thought of exuding joy is crazy.  Joy in a sense, goes hand in hand with peace. When we have peace and know that God is in control when everything is spinning out of control, we have a sense of joy. This is not the giddy, laughing hysterically joy that you may feel at a party occasionally. This is a feeling of safety, knowing that you have a purpose and a place in Christ and that He is going to take care of you.  Even in times of suffering you can have joy.  Even in times of uncertainty you can have joy. Being a Christian does not mean life will be easy and we will not suffer hardships.  It means we have an anchor.  It means we know that God is in control when we are not. We can have hope because we have a different perspective of eternity and people around you can see the fruit of joy in your life.  

Peace

Peace - that is definitely something we could use more of. Our busyness has been replaced with confinement and a forced slowing down, that admittedly for many has been very enjoyable. However, busyness has also been replaced with uncertainty. And now unrest. The more “crises” we have to deal with in life, the more we cling to God for the peace we can get only from Him.  He can give us calmness, confidence, and inner contentment even when the storm is raging fiercely around us. This is only possible through the Holy Spirit and His presence in our lives.  It is a fruit of the Spirit in our lives that we can exhibit to the shaking world around us with an example of how we react and handle the events happening around us.  How could we possibly make it through these hard times without the blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit and His love for us? Our example can possibly lead others to seek peace that only He provides as well. 

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Proverbs 11:30