The Fruits of the Spirit Series: Understanding they are from the Spirit

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Johannes Plenio

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

~Galatians 5:22-23

I have so enjoyed journeying with you all through our names of God series! That series has now come to an end, and as I contemplated what to write on next, I felt the Lord impress upon my heart the idea to write a series on the fruits of the Spirit. I am really excited about this, as this topic is near and dear to my heart.

We are all likely quite familiar with what the fruits of the Spirit are. But there is something here in this talk on the fruits of the Spirit that we often get wrong - we fail to correctly understand how we acquire the fruits of the Spirit.

That was my problem for many years. I would get up in the morning and determine that I would be the most patient, gentle, and self-controlled mom ever that day. Within ten minutes of my feet hitting the floor, that would all go out the window as I would get frustrated with one of my children or say something in a less than self-controlled way. I would get frustrated on a daily basis because I couldn't figure out what my problem was. Why couldn't I seem to be patient? Why couldn't I be gentle? Why wasn't I self-controlled? Why did it seem as if the fruits of the Spirit were accessible to me?

It was because I didn't understand how to acquire them in the first place. 

I was acting as if the fruits of the Spirit came about by me pulling myself up by my bootstraps and determining to be full of those fruits, by striving, by depending on myself. And nothing could be further from the truth. 

What we often fail to notice is the wording - these are the fruits of THE SPIRIT. That, my friends, is the key here! And it was right there in Galatians 5 all along. But what I had to do to fully understand how this all worked was back up to verses 16-17, which say this:

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

What do we see here is the key to being able to live out the fruits of the Spirit in our lives? Walking by the Spirit. That is the key to living the victorious Christian life and living in such a way as to emulate Him. The fruits of the Spirit are just that - His fruits that He produces in us. And those are produced as we walk with Him - as we are in the Word, spend time in prayer, listen for His voice, etc. 

The good, refreshing news here is that living out the fruits of the Spirit doesn't depend on us - the Spirit Himself produces them in us as we depend on and walk with Him. 

Thank You, Lord, for that! 

Reflection Questions:

1) Have you ever lived under the mistaken idea that it is up to you to produce the fruits of the Spirit in your life?

2) What changes do you need to make in order to walk by the Spirit more? What would that look like for you?

3) How does it take a load off your shoulders to realize it isn't your job to produce the fruits of the Spirit yourself? How is it encouraging to know that is something the Lord does in us as we walk with Him?

Relying on God's Strength

 By: Lauren Thomas

I’ve heard plenty of admonishments against doing things “in my own strength” and plenty of encouragements to do things “in the strength of the Lord.” But what does that really mean? It can seem pretty abstract. But a short passage in 2 Chronicles helps us make sense of how to rely on God’s strength.

…So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was wondrously helped until he became strong.

16 But when he became strong, he grew arrogant, and it led to his own destruction…

2 Chronicles 26:15b-16a CSB

 

This is commentary on King Uzziah. King Uzziah was a good king. Until he wasn’t. And this was the tipping point: once he saw his strength as his own, his undoing was imminent. Note the progression of these phrases:

 

“he was wondrously helped” – God was the one doing that wondrous helping. And it made Uzziah famous. God caused him to succeed and to do great exploits for his kingdom. 

 

“until he became strong…when he became strong” – Once Uzziah was conscious of what he believed to be his own strength, things changed. Something shifted when he noticed the power and prestige he held.

 

“he grew arrogant” – This was because he believed himself to be the source of his fame, of his success, of his strength. He no longer assigned all this to the Lord, but grew in dangerous pride.

 

“it led to his own destruction” – Proverbs 16:18 reminds us that pride goes before a fall and leads to destruction. His lack of humility, his pride, became a downward spiral to a terrible end to his reign. 

 

How can we avoid the pitfall of Uzziah? How can we do things in the Lord’s strength and not our own? It’s all about humility. It’s all about recognizing that all we have comes from the Lord. It’s about seeking his strength to face whatever comes our way. It’s about recognizing that God is the source of all the “wondrous help” we receive, not ourselves. It’s a reminder to not rely on ourselves.

 

And when things are going well for us, we don’t stop seeking the Lord. When we feel competent and content, we must continue to seek Him. Because that’s when we are in most danger of believing we alone are responsible for our success. 

 

Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

1 Chronicles 16:11 CSB

 

Today, whether you need help or things are going well, seek the Lord, seek his strength.

 

Reflection:

Do any other Bible verses come to mind when thinking about the Lord’s strength? What about verses about the dangers of pride. What do you think it means to live and serve in the Lord’s strength?

 

Names of God Series: The Almighty

 By: Rebekah Hargraves 

Photo Courtesy of: Getty Images

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” ~Revelation 1:8

As is true with each name of God, the name we come to today in our names of God series is a great comfort to us in times like these. This name, the Almighty, points to our God as being the All-Powerful One, showing us that nothing is beyond God’s control.

The Greek word translated "Almighty" is pantokratōr, the precise definition of which is as follows:

1. he who holds sway over all things

2. the ruler of all

3. almighty: God

   
   

   
   

   
   

   What this means is that no matter what the earthly rulers of this world may think, our God is the One in control. He holds sway over all things; He is the ruler of all.

   
   

   What does this mean for us?

   
   

   It means that our all-wise, all-loving, all-gracious, all-righteous, all-merciful, all-holy God is the One in control of all things. Which means that nothing is allowed to touch us or affect us apart from His permission. And if we know that, as Paul points out in Romans 8:28, the Lord causes all things to work together for our good, then we can rest at peace and in joy knowing that nothing will happen in our lives apart from God's promise to make it good and right and for the best.

   
   

   No king, president, dictator, governor, emperor, or other ruler can touch you apart from the permission of God.

   
   

   No weather pattern, trial, loss, surprise, or heartbreak can occur in your life without your loving Heavenly Father allowing it to come to pass.

   
   

   So, dear friend whatever you may be facing today, know this:

   
   

   All will be well. The Almighty is in control. And only that which is good for you will be allowed to happen in your life. Praise God for that! 

   
   

   
   

   Reflection Questions:

   
   

   1) How does this truth bring you comfort today?

   
   

   2) Who do you know who could use the encouragement today of knowing God the Almighty is in control in their lives?

   
   

   
   

   3) How does your thinking need to be conformed more to this truth and what worries need to be taken captive to the reality of Who our God is in our lives?

Now My Eyes See You

By: Joanne Viola 

 

Let’s talk about Job for a bit.

With the mention of his name, we tend to think about his losses, his grief, his suffering, or the poor advice of his wife and friends.

Or we go to the opposite extreme of remembering the restoration and blessings which God bestows on him in time.

But who is Job? What are we told about the man he is?

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; 
and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 
(Job 1:1, NASB)

Did you catch that description of Job? He was blameless, upright, feared God, and shunned evil. There can be no better character reference given on a person.

What does this description tell us about Job?

The New American Commentary (all quotes from Volume 11 on Job, page 48) gives us insight into this man:

• “Blamelessness referred to the absence of certain observable sinful acts. The author of the book was thinking of honesty, marital fidelity, just treatment of servants, generosity to the poor, and the avoidance of idolatry.”
• Feared God. “The picture here is not of a man cowering before an offended diety but of a devout man who respects God and obeys his laws.”
• Shunned evil. “Good people turn to God and away from evil. The good life involves not only the doing of right but also the avoidance of wrong.”

We see here a description of a man of integrity, wholeness, completeness. The man Job was on the outside was truly the man Job was on the inside.

This is the man Job was before tragedy struck. When Job loses his all of his his cattle, sheep and shepherds, camels and servants, and lastly his sons and daughters, he had only one response:

“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” 
(verse 22, NASB)

Job brings an important lesson: We must be faithful to God in the middle of our difficulties.

We will all have our difficult or trying moments. It is in these very times that we will have to make two important decisions for ourselves:

1. Either God loves us or He doesn’t.
2. Either God is good or He is not.

We decide not based on our feelings or what we hope but on these truths:

God loves us.
God is good.

The difficulties we experience throughout the course of our days will bring us to declare the same conclusion as it did Job:

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;”
(Job 42:5, NASB)

May we see Him
in all the circumstances in our life,
in all of our days.

 

 

Reflection:
How do we develop character like Job? We need to remind one another of God’s love and goodness.

 

Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash

 

 

 

Performance vs. Integrity

By: Lauren Thomas

The message went something like this, “thank you for reflecting Jesus to me in your patience.” It was from a former piano student who had found me on social media. Shame washed over me. I may have been patient with this young woman, but she didn’t see how I had interacted with my children that day. She hadn’t seen me in my home.

How I wished she was right! How I wished I were reflecting Jesus in my patience! But I knew why she wrote what she did. It’s because that’s what I wanted her to see. I’ve been “good” at “showing” patience. I’ve been performative, putting on displays of patience, making it look like I have fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5), while hiding the rotting decay of my sinfulness. 

 

Crafting the persona is a common and acceptable practice in our world. We only show what we want to be seen. We perform image management and create perceptions that cast us in the perfect light. 

 

But this is not acceptable for the Christ follower. 

 

God graciously took that message and began to speak to me about integrity.

Integrity is a virtue that has nearly disappeared from our vocabularies. It’s the opposite of image management. It’s who you are when no one is looking. It’s consistency whether in the light or in the dark, in the open and behind closed doors.

 

The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Proverbs 11:3 NIV

 

Image management is a lot like the legalism that Paul argued against in the New Testament. It looks good on the outside, but it has no power to transform us on the inside. Image management is performance based; it says, “if I can perform well enough, I will be good enough.”

 

While we tend to think we can change ourselves from the outside in, such change is ineffective. Only Jesus can change us from the inside out. Only Jesus can create integrity in us. Only by the Spirit can true spiritual fruit be grown in our lives. 

 

and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Acts 13:39 ESV

 

Jesus, free me from performance and image management. Change me from the inside out. Grow true and healthy fruit in my life. Make me a woman of integrity. Amen!

 

Reflection:

How’s your integrity? Does any part of this post resonate with you? 

Read Galatians 5. Compare performance-based religion to Spirit-led relationship.