Thursday, January 20, 2022
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
The Fruit of the Spirit
If you grew up in church, you probably learned about the fruit of the Spirit – maybe even memorized all of them. The fruit of the Spirit is the good stuff that comes out of our lives as a result of having the Spirit dwelling in us. If we have a growing relationship and are walking with the Holy Spirit, there should be evidence of it in our lives. Through our relationship with Him, He cultivates this fruit in our heart and nourishes us. It is our responsibility to take that fruit and bear more fruit with it.
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… To have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives we truly have to die to our flesh and many times we have to completely ask the Spirit to take over! In our flesh it is impossible to have the love, patience, kindness, gentleness, and goodness we are supposed to have for someone who is treating us unkindly. That is when we need to let the power of the Holy Spirit love them through us.
The Bible is very clear about how our flesh is against the Spirit and it is a struggle for all of us - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:16-17 Walking in the Spirit will help us, but we cannot let our guard down because we will always have those very human thoughts and feelings. The fruit of the Spirit only comes natural for us in the Spirit, not in our human flesh. Staying in the Spirit is protection and assurance that we will be more likely to act in the Spirit rather than in our flesh.
Take Care Of The Tree
Your life will bear fruit – one kind or another. It is up to you as to whether you want it to be the fruit of righteousness, or the fruit of the world. Whatever we choose to align our lives with will be evident to the people around us. Even if you think you can hide it, you can’t. You will be the only one who believes the coverup because the fruit tells the truth. Apple trees will never bear oranges or bananas.
A tree that is not watered and pruned will not grow and blossom and produce fruit. The only way you can really bear fruit is to just to abide in Christ – walk in the Spirit. When we cultivate our relationship with God and nurture that relationship with time with Him and prayer and studying the bible, it will produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives. He transforms our hearts, and this transforms our actions.
We have to protect our heart and take care of it so we can bear fruit. Abiding in Christ is how we do this, and we will see fruitfulness in our lives. Bearing fruit is what happens organically in a relationship with Him. It happens automatically. It is the full cup that spills over and out to those around us. The beauty of the relationship we have with our Lord is that we are never meant to keep it to ourselves. We are meant to share it with others so they can have it too – all for His glory.
Every genuine follower of God has his glory in view by all that he does, says, or intends. He loves to glorify God, and he glorifies Him by showing forth in his conversion the glorious working of the glorious power of the Lord. (Clarke) – Blue Letter Bible
