The Fruit of The Spirit Unpacked
The Fruit of The Spirit Unpacked
One of my favorite Scriptures, Galatians 5:22-23 describes "The Fruit Of The Spirit." These two verses are by far the fastest way to gauge our relationship with God there is. It is a tool that keeps us honest about who we are and who we are following.
Let's keep the end in mind.
Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself.
There came a new covenant with Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We no longer had the law to go through with the blood sacrifices and atonement; Jesus was the complete sacrifice and atonement for our sins, and there are now only two commands. They are worth repeating.
Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. These commands sound so simple.
They are not.
To love God with ALL YOUR heart, mind, and soul is not a Sunday afternoon stroll through the church as we tick the box. The "ALL YOUR" anything means with all your intentional focus.
Loving God with ALL YOUR heart is not a hobby!
To love God with all your heart, mind, and soul is a total commitment, not a contribution.
Suppose we pursue a "relationship" with God, where we love Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul, that makes Him the first thought, not an afterthought. It means that He is the first thing we think about when we wake up. We spend time in His Word with a passionate, deliberate focus on getting to know Him more. We would think about Him and His view on the things in our lives and the circumstances we face. We would want His input. We would carefully treat Him with respect, dignity, and consideration. We would always be sure to remain faithful and avoid anything threatening our relationship with Him. We would want our actions to bring Him joy, not discomfort or sadness.
That is what passionate love is. When we love God intentionally, we can then love our neighbor as ourselves the way God loves us.
When we are intentional about our love for God and our neighbor, it leads us to the "Fruit of the Spirit." It is with these same attributes listed in the "Fruit of the Spirit" that God Himself demonstrates His love for us.
Paul presents The Fruit of the Spirit here in Galatians:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
"But the fruit of the Spirit" are the characteristics of God which He has demonstrated to all of humanity and how He did so. Essentially, these are the result of His love, evidenced by His Son and Holy Spirit. Love, in this context, is a verb. Paul describes it this way:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
Joy means happiness, delight, pleasure, enjoyment, and gladness.
Peace is a quiet strength amid trouble, the freedom from quarrels and disagreements, free from strife.
Forbearance is the act of being patient, self-controlled, having restraint, tolerance, and strength.
Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
Goodness is related to the state or quality of being good; having moral excellence, virtue, and integrity is the best or most valuable part of anything.
Faithfulness is adhering firmly, devoted, loyal, responsible, conscientious, dependable, reliable, and consistent with truth.
Gentleness is being considerate or kindly in disposition, amiable and tender, not harsh or severe, mild and soft.
Self Control is exercising restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, and reactions.
"Against such things, there is no law." These are the attributes of God. When we spend time with Him and read His Word, they become evident in our lives. They become the filter with which we view and act in our everyday encounters and activities.
We back up and balk; we can't possibly attain all of these virtues in our lives. It is too much; why should we even start? There is truth in that statement, and we cannot attain these virtues alone. That is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit come in. Jesus gave us an example of having these virtues amid extreme turmoil, challenges, pain, and sorrow.
He spent time with His father regularly and often. He depended on the Holy Spirit for strength and grace. When baptized, Jesus came out of the water, and the Spirit settled on Him, becoming a part of who He was.
There are times when our circumstances overwhelm us. We feel like nothing is left in us to love, give, or go farther. Yet, often we don't see ourselves slipping.
When we drift from God being the focus of our love and become self-centered when it's all about me, we start to slip. When the feeling is, "I deserve this, I want what they have; I need more of…, I'm entitled to that, I've had enough". We all know the list, filled with "I."Now is when we need to pull out the "Fruit of the Spirit," the barometer of our relationship with God, and see what needs to change.
Now is when God steps in and gives us all we need to go on, succeed, get up, give out, and love more with a grace we cannot imagine.
Today can we make a list of the "Fruit of the Spirit," with their definitions and put them in place so that we can see them easily? Is it time to take paper and pen and settle in on our inventory, just God and us?
Can we just hit the pause button in our lives and consider who the focus of our love is and then adjust?