I’ve heard quite a bit of teaching over the years on the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. It says; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Usually, I’ve ended up frustrated listening because I can’t seem to work hard enough to produce any of these. Maybe you have felt the same way.
You can’t just grit your teeth and bear down and suddenly out pops “peace.” You can’t learn to have “joy” or get a degree in “longsuffering”, can you? In fact, most of the problem with the teaching I’ve been exposed to is that it revolves around the trying aspect. How can I make this happen?
Well relax a little and think about a natural fruit tree. Apples, for instance, are an outcome or consequence of the nature of the tree. There is no strain for an apple tree to grow apples and not another kind instead. At the end of the growing season, apples you will get.
If you have traded in your old nature (the flesh) for “walking in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), the fruit of the Spirit gets a whole lot easier. It will come naturally in your life without stress or strain. The question is: do you know what kind of tree you are? With the right decision, you will produce the right fruit.
0 Comments