Yesterday we looked at the fruit of the Spirit. We started looking at the difference between the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
I want to revisit the fruit of the Spirit. Fruit is good, and it’s healthy for you! Let’s pick up where we left off.
Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”
Let’s dig in.
The Apostle Paul wrote Galatians. When Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit, what message is he trying to convey? Where does the fruit of the Spirit come from anyway? Indeed, they didn’t come off my grandma’s orange tree.
The footnote in my Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us.”
Oh, I get it! The Holy Spirit has to dwell inside of me for me to have the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, if the color red is what I want to paint my walls, I must add the red dye to the white paint and blend it to get the red color I want. You notice they don’t sell the various colors already mixed. You have to combine the two. I need the Holy Spirit dwelling in me to produce the fruit I’m looking for – peace, joy, love, patience, etc.
What else?
My footnote goes onto say,” they are the byproducts of Christ’s control – we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without his help.”
So, to produce the fruit of the Spirit, I cannot do that alone. I need Christ’s help and the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me.
I can’t go to my local fruit market and buy this fruit. If I want the fruit of the Spirit, which I do, I must join my life with Christ. Sounds easy, yet so many people reject the offer.
When we look around the world today, do we see love, joy, peace, or patience? What about kindness, goodness, and faithfulness? Do we see people exercising gentleness or self-control? I wonder how many people have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Is Christ first in their lives? Are they giving Jesus Christ control?
As Carrie Underwood sings, “Jesus take the wheel.” Jesus needs to take the wheel back before we go over the cliff.
What about you? Which of the fruit do you want the Holy Spirit to produce more in you? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Hopefully, your answer is all of them.
Lord, thank you for taking something so simple and using it to teach us such valuable lessons about how to live like Jesus. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
John:15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me – and I in him – bears much fruit because apart from me, you can accomplish nothing.”
In His Service,
The Teaching Lady
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