A Genuine Blessing - The Fruit of the Spirit

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Galatians 5:22, 23 (Amplified Bible) But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the works which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].

Today, we want to consider the fruit of the Spirit in general and the characteristic of love in particular. The apostle Paul had just finished addressing the works on sins of the flesh and the consequences thereof in verses 19 through 21, He now shows us a much better way of living by allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be active in our lives. Our sinful nature chose to do the works of the flesh. However, as Christians, “…old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Cor. 5:17b)

In the Greek, “the fruit of the Spirit” is in the singular tense. It reads “is” and not “are”. Therefore, the nine characteristics mentioned are not individual parts, but rather make up the whole. Another fact we need to note is that “the fruit of the Spirit” is produced by the Holy Spirit and not by our spirit. However, we must desire to have the fruit evidenced in our daily lives in order to make a positive difference for Jesus in the world. In order for the Holy Spirit to produce the kind of fruit He desires, we must provide Him with good fertile ground with which to work. For us to do so, we must have an intimate relationship with Jesus through being obedient to His Word, which requires study, and times of communicating with Him in prayer through out the day. This relationship will bring us to a place where we see others through the eyes of God and will love them with the love of God.

Love is the first characteristic listed and is the adhesive that binds all nine of the traits together. There are four words for love in the Greek and the one used here is agape meaning affection or benevolence. Regardless of what negative effect we may experience due to someone else’s actions, we will seek only the best for that person. We must not allow our emotions to rule us but to will, that with the help of the Holy Spirit, to minister the highest good to those who attack us through words and/or deeds.

Jesus gave us the commandment in John 15: 12 and 13 to love one another as He has loved us. There is no greater love than when we lay down our life for others. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13 that without love we will become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. He states that faith, hope and love are all important but that the greatest of the three traits is love. We are truly challenged by the scriptures to see others, both saved and unsaved, through God’s eyes and to be His hands extended as we demonstrate His love for all mankind.

My prayer is: Father, let me be a blessing to someone, somehow in the next twenty-four hours. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen!

amplified bible apostle paul continence control Evotational eyes of god fertile ground forbearance fruit fruit of the spirit galatians 5 holy spirit intimate relationship jesus love meekness positive difference self self restraint sinful nature singular sins of the flesh Filed under Evotational |