Like any excited kiddo at church, I memorized the fruits of the Spirit at an early age through song. Even now, decades later, I can’t seem to rattle off the fruits in any other order than the way they were in that song. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I just typed them out to the beat of the song I grew up with! Kindness and self-control are the two that I remember having a heavy focus on during my Sunday school days, but as an adult all of the fruits have become an interest to me because I see their value.
If you didn’t already know, I am far from perfect. Just ask my husband or kiddos. I can’t even count how many times I’ve pulled one of them to the side to apologize for a snippy tone, a sarcastic response, or the heavy weight of silence… not to mention the times that I falsely accused one of them of some sort of indiscretion. Did you eat my last piece of chocolate? That’s a big one. I guess I’ll wash all the dishes myself while doing everything else. We all know there’s no truth in that statement. Those displays of weakness are moments that show how I’m relying on my own strength.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 NASB
Thankfully, there are many Christians I personally know that display Jesus on a daily, moment-to-moment, basis. They inspire me because they face the same challenges but navigate those difficulties with a grace that cannot be explained outside of Jesus – they’re not perfect, but the world can see Jesus through their life. On the other hand, I also know many who are Christians, but they live in a constant state of anxiety, their happiness is fully based on their circumstances, they cheat others, and they just can’t help themselves when it comes to giving in to temptation – so much so that they often shrug and say that it’s not that big a deal.
One lives by the Spirit, and the other does not. One was changed and the other had good intentions but fell short from what they thought was required.
Last week I wrote about the 5-point messages many Christians get from a typical church on how to be a good Christian. Again, I’m not against the how-to as long as we put a heavier emphasis on the Who-with. These sermons usually focus on being diligent in reading our Bible, spending time in prayer, attending certain classes or Bible studies, volunteering or serving in church, and letting your light shine to the world. There is nothing wrong with these works and activities. Please don’t think I’m telling you that you shouldn’t do these wonderful things.
But Jesus did nothing in His own strength and He sent us the Holy Spirit so that we wouldn’t have to struggle and fail doing life in our own strength either.
Studying through the passage above, I got a little stuck (in a good way) on whose fruit it is. It’s not the fruit of Alisha – it’s the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit is required for those fruits to be seen in my life. We can teach all day long on the how-to, but we’ll always come up short unless we’re showing people the Who-with. Unless we’re showing people in scripture who they are because of Who they belong to, Christians will continue to attempt life with all the self-effort they can muster and will fall flat on their face because they will inevitably fail.
Jesus said that He can do nothing apart from the Father (John 5:19-32) and we can do nothing apart from the Spirit (John 15:1-11). If you want a real good picture of the Who-with, read Ephesians 1:1-14. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing, we are chosen, we are adopted, we’ve been redeemed and forgiven (according to the riches of His grace), He’s blessed us with wisdom and insight to know His will, we have an inheritance, we are sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit, and we are God’s own possession. We belong to Him and have everything in Him for a life of victory.
We can try to produce the fruits of the Spirit without the power of the Spirit, but don’t be surprised when the fruit turns out to be anxiety, fear, anger, and pride. It amazes me that there are many adults who fall to the floor like a 2-year-old having a tantrum when something doesn’t go their way. It’s easy to tell when someone has spent a bit of time apart from God by how they handle stressful situations – I can say this because I’ve been the tantrum-throwing 2-year-old multiple times in my life.
I don’t want to try to imitate Jesus in my own strength. That just brings out the terrible 2’s. That’s why scripture tells us to live like Jesus through the power of Another.
That power is something – Someone – that was promised by Jesus (Acts 1:8). In His final recorded words, He found it important to make it known that the Holy Spirit was on His way. It was imperative that the disciples not leave Jerusalem before receiving the promise – the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4). Jesus knew that without the Holy Spirit, the disciples would fail. They would leave Jerusalem and experience anxiety, fear, and anger – and pride would bring about a reality showing that they were unchanged.
That’s exactly what happens when we try to navigate life without a reliance on the Holy Spirit. Notice that you’re not without the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). As soon as you say yes to Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and rest on you the way people in the old covenant experienced it, but He comes and lives in you. Never to leave you – even when you mess up or miss the mark – you are sealed in Jesus with the Holy Spirit.
Whose fruit are you trying to produce? Do you find yourself struggling with anxiety? Do you often feel stressed out about what’s on the horizon?
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 NASB
The word live (Strong’s G2198 zaō) in this verse means to have life, to have and enjoy true life, to be worthy of the name, to be fresh, strong and efficient. That’s the kind of life I want to have. As scripture tells us, we have life by the Spirit, so let us walk by the Spirit. This kind of life is possible. It’s not a promise of life being only sunny skies, but it is a promise that we will not face anything alone and that the Creator of the universe has our back.
My 5-point message this week is the same as last week. The knowledge of who we are in God’s eyes is something that will impact our ability to walk in the Spirit and allow the Spirit to produce fruit through us. I pray that this becomes a revelation for you. Check back in next week for more living life in the power of the Spirit.
- God is so, so very good and has good for you (Psalm 143:10 and Jeremiah 29:11)
- You are the object of His affection (Psalm 139 and John 3:16)
- He forgave and chose to forget your sins (Psalm 103:12 and Jeremiah 31:34)
- You’re saved by grace through faith – not by what you do, but what He did (Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:23)
- You are a child of God (John 1:12-13 and Galatians 3:26, 4:6-7)