Verse of the day: Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The battle between the
Spirit and the flesh is real. As born again believers we have been sealed and
indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13; 1 Cor 3:16). However, this does not mean
that our desire to do what we ought not to do goes away altogether. Temptation
still lurks at the door, and our selfish passions still flare up on occasion.
Nonetheless, we do not have to give in to those ungodly desires. We have the
power to choose holiness and righteousness. The struggle is real, but so is the
ability to overcome and do right. Our power to do what is right comes from the Spirit
of God working in us and empowering us. With that said, how do we know that we
are truly walking in the Spirit? This will become evident when we begin to see
the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives. As we allow the Spirit to do His
work in us, others will begin to see more of Jesus in us. Our ultimate goal is
for us to see so much of Jesus that we fade away and see less of ourselves, and
our selfish ways. In this chapter, the Apostle Paul tells us what fruit we
should be seeing outwardly in our lives as a result of the Spirit’s work within
us. First on the list is love. The Word of God tells us that without love we
are essentially useless to Him, no matter how much talent we have or how much
ability we have. We can serve God with our gifts, but if love is not the
foundation of our service, then we are nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3). When we truly
love as God loves, we fulfill God’s law (Gal 5:14). Why? Because when we truly
love we refrain from doing that which is offensive to God, and evil toward our
neighbor. Not only will we refrain from performing evil toward others, but we
will also resist pursuing vengeance when we are wronged. Instead, we will love
and pray for those that stand as our enemies (Matt 5:44). Secondly, the fruit
of joy will grow and enable us to avoid the trap of allowing situations that
bring great sorrow to take root and depress us to the point of debilitation. The
Bible tells us that we are to rejoice in the Lord (Phil 4:4). Our ability to
praise God, and count our blessing is directly tied to finding contentment and
joy in our lives when circumstances want to dictate otherwise. Our choice to
focus on all the good that God has done in our lives will enable us to override
our tendencies to be naysayers, and our tendencies to focus negativity and on
the things God has chosen not to give us for our own good and His glory. When
we choose to obey God’s Word, and rejoice in the Lord, we will then experience
the third fruit listed, the peace of God. When true peace takes root in our
lives, it will become evident to others, and our testimony for the Lord will
shine brightly. Observers of our faith will marvel at how well we deal with
trials and tribulations. This will give us the opportunity to share with others
why we can have peace in the midst of the storms that can cause overwhelming
distress in the lives of those who do not know Jesus, and have no hope. The
secret will be that we have prayerfully brought our circumstance(s) to God and
left it/them with Him. In return He will guard our hearts and minds with the
peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:6-7). It would be remiss of me not
to point out that our ability to love, have joy and peace, are all tied to
having a prayer life that keeps us going before God continually, rejoicing
before Him and giving thanks in everything (1 Thess 5:16-18). Just these first
three fruits of the Spirit, growing in our lives, will open many doors for us
to share Jesus with others. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will take a closer look
at the next three fruits of the Spirit listed in these verses.
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