Unfruitful Servants

Ephesians 4:11-12 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

What in the world does having spiritual gifts have to do with the Fruit of the Spirit? I am glad you asked. The truth of the matter is that we can use our talents and abilities and still lack fruit. Have you ever met, or seen, someone who is talented and possesses gifts that they use wonderfully for the Lord, and God seems to use them greatly; yet, we later find that the same person is unkind to others, seems to always be stressed about life in general, and not exactly the person we would want to be like personally, as a Christian? Why is that? We might find that another person seems to lack the talents and abilities that others have; yet, he/she is the kind of person who genuinely loves on other, and is continually at peace, regardless of their circumstances. They seem to be the kind of person, although quiet and serving behind the scenes, who simply lights up the room when they walk in. Why is that? Well, it is because God is God, and He can use whomever He chooses. How often do we read in the Bible that God uses even the ungodly? The reality is that we can deceive ourselves into thinking that just because God uses the talents and abilities He has gifted us with, that we are doing okay in our walk with Jesus. We need to understand that Jesus will glorify Himself, in spite of us. The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 7:23 should frighten us, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" This will be in response to those who will stand before Him proclaiming the things they did in His Name. As Jesus' followers, we need to step back and ask the Lord to show us if we are substituting service for real, genuine, growth in Christ Jesus. If we are busy serving and using our gifts for God, but have not grown in our ability to love others, have true peace and joy, be more patient, be kinder and gentler toward others, lacking self-control, then we may very well be hindering the Spirit from producing His Fruit in our lives (Galatians 5).

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).