The other day
I was in our local grocery and was delighted with the exquisite
selection of fruit. There were apples, oranges, pears, kiwis,
strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes,
mangoes, to just name a few. I ended up with a watermelon because
I was really hungry.
Like the local grocer encouraging us to take us much as
we want of whatever we want God display of the fruit of the spirit
is equally enticing. The fruit of the spirit benefit the believer
in his personal maturity, in his service to others, and in laboring
together with God. All the fruit are beneficial in all aspects
of life. Certainly longsuffering is a benefit to me, but where
it really benefits me is in working with other people.
The first three (love, joy and peace) primarily benefit
the individual. The second three (longsuffering, gentleness and
goodness) are very useful when working with others. The last group
of three (faith, meekness, and temperance) predominantly deals
with obtaining results as we labor together with God. I Corinthians
3:9 says, “For we are labourers together with God….”
We are never left out in the cold, so to speak. God is actively
working within us and with us.
LABORING TOGETHER
WITH GOD
| |
Activating |
Encouraging |
Guarding |
For the
individual
|
LOVE |
JOY |
PEACE |
For ministering
to others
|
LONGSUFFERING |
GENTLENESS
KINDNESS |
GOODNESS |
For bringing
forth results
|
FAITH
BELIEVING FAITHFULLNESS |
MEEKNESS |
TEMPERANCE
SELF-CONTROL |
Love is the beginning
and the foundation of all the fruit of the spirit. It activates
and energizes all of our godly service. It is a freewill decision.
We must exercise a deliberate choice to love. We love God because
He first loved us (1 John 4:19). He shed His love abroad in our
hearts by the spirit that dwells in us (Romans 5:5), and now it
is our privilege to operate it.
Joy encourages us in our walk with God.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. It provides resilience to
our lives. God wants our joy to be full, for we will be encouraged
in our labor when it is (Nehemiah 8:10; John 15:11; 16:24; I John
1:4; II John 12).
Peace is a guarding fruit. It is to rule in our hearts. The great
cargoes of life come in over quiet seas, and our peace with God
maintains our quiet seas. It is opposed to disorder and has a
quieting and comforting effect on us (Philippians 4:7; Colossians
3:15; I Corinthians 14:33).
Longsuffering allows us to persevere when
working with people. It bears the offenses and injuries of others
without retaliation. It provides impetus to continue to work with
people despite their imperfections and shortcomings.
Gentleness or kindness is a quality that
encourages others when we work with them. It is the opposite of
harshness and abruptness. It is not sentimentality and is demonstrated
by our willingness to actively seek occasions to bless others.
Goodness refers to one’s uprightness.
It has a lot to do with making the right choices. It shows one
honorable with moral integrity. It guards us when working with
others by upholding godly standards for ourselves as well as those
we work with. It is evidenced more by a love of doing what is
right than a fear of consequences from doing what is wrong. It
makes one competent to counsel and admonish others.
Faith or faithfulness allows us to appropriate
results as we labor together with God. It shows us faithful, trustworthy,
and reliable as workers together with God. It provides an aggressive
perseverance so that we remain faithful doing the Word of God
so that we might receive His promises (Hebrews 10:36).
Meekness encourages results. Without meekness
we will not receive the things of God (James 1: 21,22). It is
a disposition of mind that encourages us to discover, appreciate
and ponder truth. It encourages us to accept the words and ways
of God without arguing or stubbornly resisting. It allows for
training and development and fosters growth.
Temperance is the strength of resolve
that allows us to stay out of the strongholds of the weakness
of our flesh. It provides for success by allowing us to follow
through with the instruction without wavering or faltering due
to the imperfection and weakness of the flesh. Just like love
is the springboard and foundation of all the fruit of the spirit,
temperance or self-control is the conclusion and consummation
of all the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit begins
with love and ends with self-control.
If we want to walk like Jesus Christ did and if we want
to be more Christ-like, then we operate the manifestations of
the spirit and produce the fruit of the spirit. Fruit is like
a mark of quality, a stamp of approval. God gave us holy spirit
to do in us and for us that which we could not do in and of ourselves.
God wants to be actively involved in our lives. He is our loving
heavenly Father who works in us to will and to do of His good
pleasure.
When you look at the fruit of the spirit what interests
you. Hungry? Take us much as we want of whatever we want. God
has an unlimited supply.
