Fruit of the Spirit

Have you ever heard the expression, "fruit of the spirit?" When I first heard it I thought the Pastor was talking about some eatable fruit, something good to eat; I thought the Holy Spirit would provide fruits which could be devoured. I was in for a surprise because he was talking about the fruits that the Holy Spirit provides to every Christian in their daily walk.

Galatians 5:23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

The "fruit of the spirit" is a biblical tem that sums up the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life. I repeat that it sums up the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life.

Every Christian because of their relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit should possess these fruits. The fruit of the Spirit is a physical manifestation of a Christian's transformed life. In order to mature as believers, we should study and understand the attributes of the ninefold fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by products of Christ's control over our lives --- we can't obtain them by trying to get them without His help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to Christ. We must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him.

The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment he or she believes in Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 1:13-14)

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is in direct contrast with the acts of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19-21. I won't discuss this now, but will save for the next time. Look them up so you will be familiar with them before hand.

Let's look at the individual fruits:

Love - "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him." (1 John 4:16)

Joy - "The joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10). Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

Peace - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)

Patience - "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." (Ephesians 4:2)

Gentleness - We should live "in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love." (2 Corinthians 6:6)

Goodness - "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
(Ephesians 5:9)

Faithfulness - "I pray that out of his glorious richess He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
(Ephesians 3:16-17)

Self-control - "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perservance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love." (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Get a good bible with a commentary and look up some of these scriptures so you will have a better understanding of them. A Christian will never be completely victorious in always demonstrating the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the main purposes of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives and to allow the Holy Spirit to conquer the opposing sinful desires that every individual has.

Thought for Today: The fruit of the Spirit is what God desires for every Christian to exhibit!