July 12, 2016 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5:22-24: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
This verse, like many verses, contradict the very nature of man, and at the heart of this contradiction is the fact that man believes that it is by his own effort that change happens. It is true that a non-believer can choose to make some changes by his own willpower; he can choose to make a new habit to exercise, or to change his diet, etc. What man is totally incapable of doing is giving himself a new heart whereby he becomes a partaker of the nature of God. The above verse is an awesome verse in that it describes what the Holy Spirit produces in each believer, which actually amounts to a change of nature for the believer. The fruit of the Spirit as listed in this verse is not something we must work at, or obtain through our diligence and our best effort. Even for the believer, it may be difficult to grasp the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is a package deal-we have it, or we don’t have it. For example, we have heard others say, and we have likely said: “I need to work on self-control” or “I need to be more joyful,” or whatever. When He is in control of our lives, the fruit of the Spirit is the by-product. It is important to realize that this verse describes the “fruit” of the Spirit, not the “fruits.” This may be a stretch even for the believer, but if you have one, you have all of the fruit of the Spirit-if you have joy, then you have faithfulness, etc. As a believer, at any given time we are either living the self-life, or we are living by the Spirit. It is possible for a believer to “quench the Spirit” and revert back to living according to the flesh, but note the warning in this verse: “those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Even though God gives us a new heart, a new mind, and He puts His Spirit within us, there is still a maturing process to take place in the believer, but even as a “babe in Christ,” one can know and experience the fruit of the Spirit. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and as we learn to hear and recognize His voice, we will find that the fruit of the Spirit being experienced becomes a way of life. Not only does the Spirit produce good fruit in us, He also corrects us when we need to be corrected, He guides us, He gives wisdom, He intercedes for us, He reveals truth to us, and much more. The ultimate freedom we could ever experience becomes a reality when we live our lives with the Holy Spirit of God at the helm. The Spirit will not force His way, but is anxious for us to invite Him to take full control of our lives and yield to what He wants to do in us and through us. Yielding to Him does not mean that we have no part to play; our part is to cooperate with what He is doing in us and to respond to His promptings. Let us thank God for the fruit that the Spirit brings to our lives and may walking in the Spirit become a way of life.
Blessings,
Buddy
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