THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
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Galatians 5:22-23 |
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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. KJV |
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. NIV |
The fruit of the Spirit is: Love, Joy, Peace.
All three are Godward or directed toward God.
There is no Love for God before Conversion, but now:
We love Him because He first loved us.
There is no Joy before God before Conversion, but now:
We Joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ
There is no Peace with God before Conversion, but now:
We have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I read of a young woman who had just had a baby. The baby was only days old when she got word that her husband had been killed in a motor vehicle accident. Up until this time she had never given God a thought but in a blind rage she began to shout, I hate you, I hate you! Have you ever done anything like that? Has someone you put your trust in ever let you down and let you down badly? Like the young bride left at the altar by her husband to be, who walked up to her and said that he could not go through with the wedding. He then walked away, and she never saw him again. What would your reaction be?
Many turn against God at such times, as if God were the one causing the offence instead of being the One who was greatly offended. God is Love and such conduct is an unimaginable grief and offence to Him more than any other, including you, if you have been so offended.
Have you ever been let down by other Christians or grossly insulted in company for no reason? What is your reaction? Do you pay God back for something He never did?
We should remember that the first offence was against God much more than against you. That person was carrying God’s Holy Name when he committed that unholy act and God was twice grieved. First by what he did while professing to follow God, the One who could never act that way. Second by what he did in hurting you who are God’s child.
Now the hard part: Have you ever turned against God because of your grief? If you have, then why? Did it give you some kind of satisfaction? Was it a kind of revenge against the one who caused your hurt? And tell me did it work? Did you manage to hurt the one who hurt you by this means? The person who so carelessly hurts others is certain not to be the person you thought he or she was. That person has no more concern for the Lord’s Glory than for your grief.
We need to be ever mindful of what we do and say and how we act and behave. Having received Christ as our Saviour we must beware of bringing His Holy Name into disrepute by lashing out when things do not go our way or when we are let down or hurt by others. We must remember that God has had nothing to do with that kind of behaviour and that it is sinful of us to blame Him when things go wrong.
We should count our blessings instead of our griefs.