But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23Yesterday we talked about the gifts of the Spirit. Supernatural abilities distributed to believers for the common good. But there is something else the Spirit produces in your life that is even more important. Not gifts. Fruit.
Paul writes in Galatians:
Notice Paul does not say "fruits" (plural). He says "fruit" (singular). But then he lists nine things. How can one fruit be nine things?
The answer is that these nine characteristics are not separate fruits. They are one fruit with nine aspects. Like a single apple with many qualities: color, texture, taste, aroma. They are all part of the same fruit.
And they are all produced by the Holy Spirit living in you. Not by your effort. Not by your discipline. By the Spirit.
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection, and to mutual affection, love.
2 Peter 1:5-7The Nine Aspects
Let me break down each one:
Love - Not emotional affection. Divine love (agape). The kind of love that loves unconditionally, even when unlovable. The foundation of all the fruit.
Joy - Not happiness, which depends on circumstances. Joy is deep, lasting, independent of external conditions. The fruit of knowing you are right with God.
Peace - Not the absence of conflict. Shalom. Complete wholeness. The sense that everything is right between you and God, even when everything is wrong around you.
Patience - Not just waiting quietly. Longsuffering. The ability to endure mistreatment without retaliation. The willingness to let God work on His timeline.
Kindness - Not just being nice. Active goodness toward others. The desire to help, to serve, to improve the lives of those around you.
Goodness - Moral excellence. Upright character. The internal desire to do right, not just appear to do right.
Faithfulness - Reliability. Steadfast commitment. The kind of loyalty that stays when things get hard, that does not waver when circumstances change.
Gentleness - Not weakness. Meekness. Power under control. The strength to not assert yourself aggressively, to be humble before God and others.
Self-Control - Not just self-discipline. Mastery over desires, impulses, and appetites. The ability to say no to self in order to say yes to God.
Gifts vs. Fruit
One of the most important things to understand is the difference between gifts and fruit.
Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities given to believers for service. You can have gifts and be a terrible person. 1 Corinthians 13 makes this clear. You can speak in tongues, have prophecy, understand all mysteries, have all faith, give everything you own to the poor, and if you do not have love, you are nothing.
But fruit is different. Fruit is the evidence of the Spirit's work in your character. Fruit is what you become, not just what you do. And fruit takes time to develop.
Gifts can be given instantaneously. Fruit is grown over a lifetime. And you cannot fake fruit. It shows. It is visible. It is the evidence that the Spirit is truly at work in your life.
The key word there is effort. Fruit requires cooperation with the Spirit. He produces it, but you participate in the process.
The Evidence
Here is the test. How do you know if the Spirit is really at work in your life? Not by your gifts. Not by your experiences. By your fruit.
Are you becoming more loving? More joyful? More peaceful? More patient? More kind? More good? More faithful? More gentle? More self-controlled?
That is the evidence. That is the proof. That is what the Spirit produces when He lives in you.
✦ A Moment to Sit With
Look at the list again. Which of these nine aspects is most evident in your life right now? Which is least evident? Ask the Spirit to produce more of what is missing.
✦ ✦ ✦
Father, I want the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in my life. Not just gifts. Not just experiences. Character. Produce Your fruit in me. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Let them be evident in my life for all to see. I know this is not instant. It is a process. But I am willing to cooperate with Your Spirit as He works in me. Amen.
Tomorrow we are going to tackle one of the most divisive topics in Christianity: the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What it is, how it differs from salvation, and the crucial truth that tongues is NOT the only evidence.
With honesty and hope,
Claire