Enjoying the fruits of the Spirit of God

BrendaBy Brenda Cannon Henley
There seems to be a dearth or lack of the fruits of the Spirit of God in many of our lives in this day and age. Some have never even heard of living and demonstrating these fruits in their life and some do not believe they can undertake to do such a thing. The Bible talks about these fruits in the amazing Book of Galatians in Scripture. Can you list these nine fruits that should be evident in a Christian’s life? If we cannot even list them, how can we expect to know enough about them to demonstrate their concepts and truths in our everyday lives?

BCH_2017-0131The nine fruits listed in
Galatians 5:22-25 are these:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self Control

After the fruits are listed, this writing goes on to say, “Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

One writer described these fruits as a composite description of what the Christian lifestyle and character traits are all about — as an unbroken whole. It is not like we are shopping in a well-stocked market. We cannot pick and choose which spiritual gift we would like to purchase on that day. Unlocking these nine fruits will give us an in-depth portrait of a Christ-centered person.

Looking at our list, which fruits come easy to us? Which are much more difficult to conquer or obtain? How can we learn to put them into practice in our everyday life? Are we willing to accept the changes they will require if we are to be successful? Do we really want to exercise self-control over our thoughts and actions? Each fruit deserves a complete study on its own merit, but for starters, let’s plan to read the entire Book of Galatians.

The Apostle Paul is writing on his first missionary journey as he preaches in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Pamphylia, and Attalia. Many souls were saved and Paul worked there again in both his second and third missionary journeys. However, Judaizers urged the Galatian Christians to add other tenants to their faith. Paul’s converts turned from him and strongly denied that he was a true apostle. Galatians was Paul’s written corrective and was written, not to a single church, but to the collective churches of Galatia. (Chapter 1, Verse 2) This letter represented his fight for the purity of the gospel. It exposed the Judaistic error and defended the doctrine of justification by faith.

I urge you to look over the list of fruits. Perhaps put it to memory or print it out and post it so that you can see it often. Which of the fruits are missing from our busy lives today? In the next few weeks, we will look at each of the fruits and hopefully gain a better understanding of how our lives can be blessed and how we can be of more blessing to others.

Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at (409) 781-8788, or
[email protected].
[1-30-2017]

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