Right Fruit!

Right Fruit!

Galatians 5:22-23 AMP

[22] But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

One good thing about the verses above is that the right context has been provided. We have been made aware of the source, the process and the evidence required to prove the validity of the fruit my life produces. I have also been left in no doubt as to what the absence of the above looks like. In the 2 verses before the ones above, a list is also provided that speaks to the evidence of a life reflecting another source. What the above positions make clear is that a life will ALWAYS reflect its control centre. Whoever or whatever is in charge of a human life will definitely always reflect in the output of that life. It does not matter how well a person is able to pretend; the control centre will always be revealed by words, actions, interactions, engagements or relationships. As much as you may love the list above, there is someone who is able to produce it. You cannot fake it; you cannot buy it with the highest monetary value you may have. You can only get it by total submission to the One who is able to produce it. 

It is to be noted that the list above is defined as a single fruit, not many fruits. The same fruit is manifested in all the different ways listed. This also tells me that I cannot pick and choose the one that I am comfortable with and reject the others as too hard. That is not how the fruit of the Spirit works; His presence is what empowers and brings out the fruit in those He inhabits and controls. It  is also not a point of negotiation with the Holy Spirit, where I get to argue my case about what I can do, and what I cannot do. God has not said I should do all the above by my own personal labour, but He provides sufficient grace for the tasks He demands of  me. As the verses above make clear, it is His presence that guarantees the fruit; nothing else and no one else can produce these. If man cannot produce it, then be sure that a man cannot give you what he does not own or already have. Do not look to man for that which only God can give and also sustain. 

We also now know that God does not force Himself on anyone, or go against the exercise of my freewill. I also check the fruit and its manifestations as listed above, and I note that the evidence is both internal and external. The presence of the Holy Spirit in a man cannot be ignored or denied. Whether it is in the way I relate with other people, or in the way I am able to bear pressure without lashing out and being nasty, or in the ability to hold back when it may appear that insisting on my own way is the 'right' thing to do, I see that the fruit of the Spirit covers ALL aspects of a man's life. I am yet to find any law that is able to successfully make God's version of love illegal, or to make patience unlawful. The fruit do not answer to the human nature; you cannot demand the fruit from the fallen human nature. Only the One who has the seed and source is able to produce the fruit. Do you have Him? God's time of favour is here.