|
HELEN SANDERS
3-7-2023
BEING FRUITFUL
We learn about the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24 which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Then in verse 25 it tells us how this is obtained. It says, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
The only way to have the Fruit of the Spirit is to deny the flesh. Let’s look at each gift and understand what we must do to obtain this fruit.
Love – The opposite of love is hatred. If you constantly speak hatred of anyone regardless of their lifestyle and their life, you are not fruitful in love. Yes, if a person is in sin, we love them enough to tell them, but it must be done with another fruit, which is meekness. (Gal. 6:1.)
Joy – This joy only comes through trials. Trials bring us closer to the Lord where we learn that the joy of the Lord is the strength that gets us through them. There are so many that do not manifest any joy in their lives. They are constantly in a state of gloom. We radiate the joy of the Lord when we concentrate on the promises instead of the problem.
Peace – The opposite of peace is stress. We can know whether we have put on the shoes of peace in our armor when stress is in our lives. We must learn to cast our cares on the Lord, trusting that He will lift the burdens and give us His peace that passes our understanding. It is a constant daily choice. Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.
Longsuffering – Longsuffering means patience, or fortitude. The opposite of course is impatience. When we walk in impatience it means that we have not crucified that flesh that always rises up and wants things done in a hurry. We learn patience through trials and trusting that God knows more than we do. We learn that in His perfect timing He works things out for our good.
Gentleness – Gentleness means we are kind. Someone that isn’t gentle means they can be mean. They always have to have the last word regardless of knowing that it hurts someone. They care for nothing but themselves. Gentleness comes as we learn to yield our mouths to the Lord.
Goodness – The opposite of good is bad. Goodness comes only when we know the one that is Good – Jesus Christ. When we submit to his leading then we walk in goodness and not sin.
Faith – The opposite of faith is fear. When we are controlled by fear, we strangle our faith. We must remember that fear does not come from God. God brings us his power, his love, and his soundness of mind. (2 Timothy 1:7.) When we walk in fear instead of faith it means we are not trusting God. We must cast down the imaginations that Satan sends our way and say “no” to them and let faith arise.
Meekness – The opposite of meekness would be arrogance, or lack of humility. A meek person is a humble person. They don’t have to always have the conversation be about them. They prefer others over themselves. It does not mean they are weak, but they are Spirit-controlled instead of being flesh controlled.
Temperance – The opposite of temperance is being out of control. Explosive anger, complete loss of peace. Self-control means that we have subjected ourselves to God and his leading. We have learned that our way or the highway is not what God intends for us. We cannot do this without Holy Spirit working all of the other fruit in us. When we become Spirit-controlled instead of self-controlled, it means that we have crucified the flesh and no longer want our will but we want God’s will in everything.
When we have this fruit in our lives, we are not immune to attacks, but we know when they come that we will get the victory through Jesus Christ. We live the crucified life knowing Galatians 2:20 which says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
| 
