Beyond Just Fruit

I love fruit.

All of it. Berries and apples and oranges. Tropical and local. I could honestly make my diet 90% fruit if it weren't so expensive. I love fruit in pies, love it fresh, love it covered in chocolate, love it dried. (In fact, one of my favorite things in the whole world is some sort of trail mix with dried fruit in it. YUMMY.)

My daughter, on the other hand, does not like fruit. Any of it. Not the best (I mean, come on! Who doesn't like a fresh-from-the-ground strawberry?!?!?!) and not even the bland. (She gagged last night eating a piece of apple about 1/5 the size of a dime.)

In Galatians 5:22-23, there's a verse about the fruit of the spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Some people incorrectly call this the fruits of the Spirit, but that's not it; it's fruit. And if you're living according to the Spirit, you reveal the singular noun fruit of the Spirit. All of them. 

Just like real fruit: I love all of them. My daughter hates all of them.

If you live by the Spirit, you reveal all these qualities. If you don't you usually reveal none of them. 

So this is a gut-check time: do you have those fruit of the Spirit? Let me tell you how I personally know when I'm not choosing to live according to the power of God in me through the Holy Spirit: I am not loving. Or joyful. No peace, no patience, no kindness. I have no goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. I'm without all the fruit when I'm not living by the Spirit.

So are you. And this is really tough for someone who has never walked according to the Spirit, because they've never realized what it's like to really have that fruit. You thought you were just grumpy, opinionated, angry, or brusque. But in reality you just had no Spirit, meaning you had none of the fruit of the Spirit. And you find out, when you actually start living according to the Spirit's leading in your life, that you are really awesome when you seek God's will and live in obedience to Him. Because it's the person He planned for you to be. It's still you; but the you whose mind and heart and spirit are under the authority of God. 

But have you ever read beyond the Fruit of the Spirit verse? 

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:24-25). 

The Amplified Bible says it this way: "And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]"

Beyond living according to the Spirit and having His fruit:

• we crucify our sinful, godless human nature, and
• we keep in step--or walk in line--with the Spirit.

We bear fruit. We violently kill the not-of-God in us. We keep up with the Spirit.

I picture a Mom walking quickly through the grocery store, pressed for time, arms full of stuff. A few steps behind her I see a little girl, two or three years old, struggling to keep up. The good mom may be rushed but she is patient because she knows the child can't really move at her pace. But she's willing to push it just a little. Because the child is tougher than she thought. She's able to move quickly when necessary. She can hear the mother's voice and see her steps and know the path if she will just keep up.

Same with us. 

The Holy Spirit is always with us, guiding us, speaking to us, teaching us, and reminding us (John 14). He is right there, encouraging us to follow. We have short legs and small lungs and can't possibly go at His speed. But He knows our limits; we're tougher than we thought. He's not going to go jogging off to the car, leaving us all alone in the parking lot. 

But He's also not going to let us dawdle.

You've heard His voice. It may have been a long time, but you know you heard it. And you wonder why He doesn't speak to you any more; it's because it's been a long time since you've listened. Turn back to Him and you'll realize He was there all along.

And start doing the things you knew you should have been doing all along: love. Seek God's Word. Forgive. Help. Serve. Pray. Get guidance. Be discipled. I guarantee when you start doing the things you knew to do, you'll hear His voice again. And you'll realize you don't need to be fake in order to be loving or kind or generous; it's the fruit of the Spirit, and it's falling off you. 

Then you go the next step by looking seriously for things in your heart and mind that go against God--they're there, I promise, but they're good at hiding--and kill them. You accept that God's guidance and standards are for your good and His glory. 

And at this point you'll know what the Spirit looks like and sounds like. You'll recognize His footprints. You'll follow as quickly as you can. You'll hear that gentle whisper and you do it no matter how crazy it sounds. 

THIS IS IT. This is the life you've been searching for and longing for and wanting but didn't know how to get it. 

Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-minded life.

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