FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

                               FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

In Galatians 5:22-23 it says, “But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such things there is no law.” 

When Jesus talked about believers, He said in Matthew 7:16-17, “You will fully recognize them by their fruits.  Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?  Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the sickly tree bears bad fruit.

In that same chapter Jesus went on to say that a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit nor a bad tree produce good fruit.  He also said that you will know them, believers, by their fruit.

Do we, as believers, bear good fruit or bad fruit?  When you plant a tree, you care for it, you water it, and you give it nutrients so that it will be strong and bear good fruit.  What are the essentials that we need to bear good fruit or the fruit of the Spirit?  We need to be planted in the good soil of the God’s Word as in the parable of the seeds planted on good ground that took root and flourished.  We also need the water of the Holy Spirit to help us grow and we need the light from the Son of God to keep us healthy.  If we have these essentials, we will grow in the Spirit and produce good fruit for the Kingdom of God where we can reflect God’s love and joy to others to win others to the Kingdom.

Rather than just seeking the fruit of the Spirit, we need to be seeking God and His Word and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us and the fruit will naturally flow out of us because of Who is inside us.  Jesus said many times that He only did what He saw the Father doing and He would pray and have intimacy with God the Father. 

Let’s look at each individual fruit of the Spirit.

LOVE:

In 1 John 4:7-9 it says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and he who loves is begotten of God and is coming to know and understand God He who does not love has not become acquainted with God, for God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians it says that, “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious, nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.”  It goes on to say the many attributes of love and it is the greatest of all the gifts.

If we truly want to be as God has created us to be, in His image, then love should flow naturally from us to others.  If we say we love God and hate our brother or sister, then we are a liar.

JOY:

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing with hope.”

It is the joy of the Lord that gives us strength as it says in Nehemiah 8:10.  It is the joy that comes from God through the Holy Spirit that is our strength.  It does not look at circumstances but it is from within.  When we exhibit joy then others will be attracted to us if only through a smile that maybe makes someone’s day.

PEACE:

In Matthew 5:9 it says, “Blessed are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!”  Now that is a very powerful statement because it truly talks about our identity in God!!  In Hebrews it says that if you do not live at peace with everyone and pursue holiness and consecration, you will not see the Lord.

Why do you think that Jesus is called the Prince of Peace?  He came to bring peace, not as the world gives but peace in our hearts.  A peace that can only come through Jesus.  A peace that you can have when everything seems to be falling apart.  When you are at peace, you are totally resting in the Lord and trusting in Him to take care of any situation.  Peace is the opposite of fear.  Don’t let fear steal your peace. 

  

In John 14:27 it says, “Peace I leave with you; My (own) peace I now give and bequeath to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

PATIENCE:

One of the attributes of love is patience. (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Why do we need to be patient?  Now, more than ever before, we need patience because we live in a culture where almost everything is “instant this, instant that.”  I have to admit I get impatient when my phone doesn’t turn on fast enough. 

God can see the beginning from the end.  He is not in a hurry.  It took 6 days for creation.  In the fullness of time God sent His Son, Jesus to the earth to atone for our sins.  Even Jesus had to wait for the right time for His ministry to begin.  Noah spent around 100 years building an ark.  I’m not sure I would have that patience let alone live that long. LOL 

You have probably heard the old adage, “I want patience and I want it right now,”  or don’t pray for patience because God may put you in a situation where you will need it!!  Patience is the opposite of impulsive so think of patience as a gift that will probably keep you out of trouble.

KINDNESS:

In Ephesians 4:32 it says, “And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  Kindness is just part of being a loving person.  If you say you are a Christian and you are unkind to people, then you are a hypocrite.  It is hard to be kind sometimes but we need to strive in our daily lives. 

When we put Christ at the center of our lives, then, hopefully, kindness will flow.  When someone is unkind to you, ask God to help you forgive that person and don’t repay that person with unkindness but with love.  You never know, maybe because of your action that person may experience the love of God that they have never experienced before.  God works through us to love others.

GOODNESS:

In Galatians 6:10 it says, “So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good to all people.  Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith.”

Goodness and kindness are intertwined.  You really cannot have one without the other.  Both are the overflow of God’s love in us through Christ.  We are the vessels God uses to pour out His love and kindness to others.

 

FAITHFULNESS:

In Matthew 25:21 it says, “His master said to him, Well done, you upright and faithful servant!  You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much.  Enter into and share the joy which your master enjoys.”

Most people use this scripture to talk about how we want the Lord to receive us when we finish our race here on earth but it probably means more than that.  I think that it may mean that as we faithfully do what God has asked us to do,

whether it be great or small, He will continue to trust us to do other, even greater things.  Even though we should seek to do great things for God, we need to know that each of us has a particular destiny and as long as we accomplish that destiny, we can say as someone once said, “If I cannot do great things, may I do small things in a great way.”

GENTLENESS AND SELF-CONTROL:

In Ephesians 4:2 it says, “Living as becomes you with complete lowliness of mind and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.”

As was said before, all of these fruit of the spirit----love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are all the fruit of love.  God is love and if we walk in His love the fruit will grow in us and be the manifestation of God’s glory.