The Fruits Of The Spirit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
Following the list of 17 works of the flesh-which, if practiced, will prohibit us from inheriting the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21)-are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. There is a need for balance between the gifts and the fruits of the Spirit. In a direct reference to Charismatics, Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matt. 5:21-23). The gifts of the Spirit are neither substitutes for the fruits of the Spirit nor an excuse to despise the laws of God. Ultimately, “you will know them by their fruits …
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 7:16, 19). The nine fruits of the Spirit are developed and brought to perfection through contrasting and opposing forces. Jesus says, “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). Through severe trials and bitter life experiences, God prunes and purges us to bring forth fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. How are they developed?
(1) Love is cultivated through loving those who hate, spitefully use and persecute you.
(2) Joy is developed by those who pass through the valley of Baca (sorrow) and make it a spring.
(3) Peace comes to maturity when you cast your cares on Jesus in the midst of confusion.
(4) Longsuffering can only be formed through overcoming very long and arduous trials.
(5) Kindness shines forth in the midst of the rude, uncouth, ungrateful and unthankful.
(6) Goodness manifests amongst the wicked with their cruel and deceitful acts.
(7) Faithfulness is at its best when confronted by the failure and betrayal of those we trust the most.
(8) Gentleness is developed when confronted by anger to which one does not respond to.
(9) Self-control is the discipline you exercise as you are tempted by unrestrained lust, passions and desires.
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shalom, as a mom I’m struggling with gentleness especially for my children, can you give me the example for no.8? thanks, Gb..
Lusi tan -
Example for No.8 –
When someone gets mad at you and you’re not at fault-
you do not react in the same spirit but respond instead with a right attitude.
Thank you so much for this Spyro! You find and post so many wonderful things! I don’t fully understand how you are able to do it, but I sure appreciate it. These “9 fruits” are all so very true, but what jumped out at me so much was the realization that to the still ego controlled mind, these reactions would not only seem impossible to truly do, but would be firmly convinced that it would be absolutely wrong to react that way even if one could! And yet the very same mind, when driven by the wisdom of humility, would see the absolute insanity of reacting in any other way but those described! There would not even be a question or debate about it! So in a very real sense the very same mind is no longer the very same mind! Ego cannot ever understand humility, but the new mind, bathed in the wisdom of humility, can look back at it’s former ego self, and both see and understand so clearly all the insanity of ego. The humbled mind now knows that it’s peace of mind, it’s forgiveness, it’s love and compassion are all the result of seeing actual reality, the reality that was there all along. And it can see that what the old ego driven self thought and in fact was absolutely certain was reality that it was looking at, was not reality at all. It was only seeing what the ego wanted to see, and the desire itself to see only that was causing the mind to twist, pervert, minimize or completely block out any reality that contradicted it. And it could do all of this while preventing the conscious mind from being aware of all the mental gymnastics it was going through to accomplish this miraculous task! The ego is sublime to say the least.
It is so strange that the very things our ego ‘wants’ us to see, and that it convinces us are reality, are not only not even faintly related to actual reality, but are the very things that bring all the emotional misery there is into our lives. To gratify ego is to invite misery into our lives,…….but you’d never know that to listen to ego’s version of things!
Thanks again Spyro!
loveyou,
justabricklayer
BRO. HONG HEE
THANK YOU FOR THE WORD OF GOD.
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