WHAT IS THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT AND HOW DOES IT GROW IN ME? (GAL.5:22,23)
THE CLOSER YOU GET TO BELIEVERS WHO TRULY WALK IN THE SPIRIT, THE BETTER THEY LOOK. YOU DON'T GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY'RE HIDING SOMETHING. THEY RADIATE INTEGRITY. YOU FEEL YOU COULD TRUST THEM WITH YOUR MOST INTIMATE SECRET. YOU MEY EVEN FIND YOURSELF OPENING UP TP THEM IN A WAY QUITE UNCHARACTERISTIC FOR YOU.
OF COURSE, THEY'RE NOT PERFECT. YOU WILL LIKELY HEAR MORE APOLOGIES FROM THE LIPS OF THOSE WHO WALK BY THE SPIRIT THAN FROM ANY OTHER GROUP. THEIR SENSITIVY TO THE SPIRIT THAN FOM ANY OTHER GROUP. THIER SENSITIVITY TO THE SPIRIT PROVIDES THM WITH AN UNCANNY ABILITY TO KNOW WHEN THEY HAVE OFFENDED OF HURT SOMEONE, AND THEIR INTERNAL SECURITY ALLOWS THEM TO RESPOND QUICKLY ONCE THEY REALIZE THIER SIN OR ERROR IN JUDGEMENT. THEY NEVER FEEL AFRAID TO ADMIT THIER FAULTS, YET THEY ALWAYS REMEMBER THEY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POWER TO RISE ABOVE THEIR FLESHLY APPETITES AND DESIRES.
SPECIFICALLY, THEIR LIVES EXUDE NINE VIRTUES: LOVE JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING (PATIENCE), KINDNESS,GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL. I WON'T GIVE A BLOW-BY-BLOW DESCRIPTION OF EACH QUALITY, BECAUSE I THINK SUCH AN ELABORATION CREATES A PROBLEM/
IN PREPARING TO WRITE THIS, I READ FORM SEVERAL BOOKS THAT GEVE EXPANDED DEFINITIIONS OF EACH QUALITY. WHEN I READ ABOUT KINDNESS, I QUICKLY BECAME PREOCCUPIED WITH BEING MORE KIND, I BEGAN THINKING OF ALL THE UNKIND THINGS I HAD DONE AND SAID RECENTLY. THEN I ASKED GOD TO MAKE ME A KINDER PERSON. I FOUND MYSELF LAUNCHING OUT ON A MISSION OF KINDNESS.
WHEN I READ ABOUT GENTLENESS, THE SAME THING HAPPENED. I REALIZED HOW ABRUPT AND INSENSITIVE I CAN BE. SO I TOLD GOD HOW MUCH GENTLER I WAS GOING TO BE.
DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM?
----"I NEED TO ACT MORE LOVING"
----"I NEED TO BE MORE PATIENT"
-----"I NEED TO EXCERCISE MORE SELF-CONTROL"
I BELIEVE PAUL LISTED THESE VIRTUES AND MOVED ON FOR ONE SIMPLE REASON. THEY AREN'T GIVEN TO US AS GOALS TO PURSUE BECAUSE BECAUSE YOU ANDI CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE PRODUCER; WE ARE MERELY THE BEARERS. THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO DEMONSTRATE OUR DEDICATION AND RESOLVE. RATHER, IT REVEALS OUR DEPENDENCY ON SENSITIVITY TO THE PROMPTINGS OF THE SPIRIT.
FRUIT IS NOT SIMPLY ON E MARK OF A SPIRITFILLED LIFE; IT IS THE PREEMINENT MARK.