The Fruit of the Spirit

6.26.23

In Galatians 5:19-23, Paul contrasts the “acts of the flesh” with the ‘fruit of the Spirit.’ The flesh deals in all that we feel free to do in the world, regardless of the objections of our conscience or the laws of God(v. 19-21). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and humility (v. 22-23).[1] As we follow Jesus, we will experience a notable decrease in the acts of the flesh and a rising increase in the fruit of the Spirit within us.

After years growing up and living in this world, we can really notice the rising fruit of the Spirit within us as we follow Jesus into the person we were created by God to be. Step by step, year by year, as we are healed of the issues that stand between us and God, we will begin to notice these attributes of love growing in us.  And then, we know that we are on the right track with the Lord. We could say that it is a journey in which the ego’s “I” is less and less the dominant source of our behavior and attitudes, because we are being freed of its influence in favor of sharing God’s love with everyone we meet. As we grow into the full image of who we were created to be, we will be more and more a vehicle of God’s all-forgiving and merciful love. As the ego steps way back in us, God’s love comes forward in us.

At the same time God is taking care of our needs for support in all that He asks us to do. He is loving us just as we are. That is the greatest gift He can give us. And, as we take in His love for us, once our defensiveness and self-protection–read the grip that fear has on us–are greatly reduced in us, we can truly feel God’s love for us, no matter what we have done in our lives or failed to do. And then, we can really begin to love ourselves. It’s an amazing journey! At no point in this human lifetime will we be perfect, but we can still reap the benefits of all that God has in store for us, as we faithfully walk the path laid out for us.

I lump the fruit of the Spirit together like this:

Love is:

joy/peace,

patience/goodness/kindness/faithfulness/gentleness

humility.

The first two aspects of love, joy and peace are so counter to what living in this world means where fear and anxiety reign. The next five, are all about how we treat everyone, including ourselves. They are a great expression of love. The last one, often translated self-control, is really humility which really means that we no longer need to be better than others, to stand out in the crowd.  Really, it says, that only God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are better than any human being we will encounter, including ourselves. So, true humility says that I am just like every other human being in God’s eyes and in my eyes, too. To me this is the nature of the kingdom. It is a community of people who have given their lives over to love God, themselves and others, to follow Jesus into the kingdom of God on this earth. Not one human stands above any other human being there. And yet, there we live in love, peace, joy, love, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and humility as we fulfill the purpose for our lives. What more could we want?

Questions to ponder over the week: Am I following Jesus wherever He leads? Have I devoted my life to God? If not, what do I need to do now? If so, am I experiencing the rise of the fruit of the spirit in my life? If the answer is no, what am I not doing that Jesus is asking me to do?

Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who are more and more experiencing the fruit of the spirit rising in us. May we be more loving of God, ourselves, and all other people every day.

Check out my two websites: patsaidadams.com and deepeningyourfaith.com.

Two Announcements

1. I am giving away a 10-week journaling guide to Jesus’s Two Great Commandments. If you are interested, email me at patsadams@gmail.com and I will email it to you, free of charge.
2. My latest books, “Called to Help the Poor and Needy” and “A Study Guide to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount” are now in bookstores and on line. The first is about the more than 2,000 verses in the Bible which detail God’s instructions for caring for those in need. The second is a journaling/pondering guide to Jesus’s most complete sermon.

[1] Two of these fruits are, to my mind, not well translated into what is actually requires. The NIV’s forbearance, I have experienced as patience. And the NIV’s self-control, I have experienced as humility.