Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Fruit of the Spirit
A Fruitful Life
Jesus was interested in our fruit (Matthew 7:15-23). One knows God's followers 'by their fruit'.
If the Spirit dwells in a person, that person will start taking on the characteristics described as the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit works to change Christians. It’s not automatic or sudden. Like everything else in this broken world and its broken people, it's something that arises in part, not completely, in this life. The Spirit is always working for something better.
Galations 5
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. 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. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
These fruit lists describe what a Christian's character grows into, over time.
In this passage Paul tells us how we are to respond to this freedom we have. We should choose to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. This is a choice that each of us as Christians make every day.
The Fruit
Love
Love must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty. Every virtue is an expression of love.
Joy
The Biblical Greek term in Galatians is chara: joy, cheer, gladness, or celebration. Joy runs deeper than mere pleasure; especially in a spiritual context, it runs deep into the core of us, and radiates throughout.
Peace
The Greek term is irenic : bringing or causing peace: peace-making, shalom, reconciliation. When something is done in an irenic way, it is being done in a way that helps find common ground, creates understanding and appreciation, or soothes sore points of dispute. Paul was calling Christians to be irenic when he wrote of his ministry as a "ministry of reconciliation".
Patience
To endure something with calmness; the ability to willingly accept or tolerate delay or hardship.
Kindness
Being of a friendly or generous nature; showing sympathy, mercy, empathy, or understanding; beneficial to something's function. "useful for others"
Goodness
To be helpful, to do things with excellence.
Faithfulness
Loyal, full of faith or trust; firmly and resolutely sticking with a person, group, cause, belief, or idea, without waver.
Gentleness
Soft, tender; well-managed, not sudden or rash or angry, taking care not to harm others.
Self-control
Asserting power over or management of one's desires, lusts, emotions, and feelings, and related behaviors, by way of one's determination or will. The ability to tell yourself "no" and make it stick. The ability to direct one's own behavior and harness one's energies.
As Christians we have been given freedom - we are not forced to live a certain way but we have freedom to choose how to live.
We can use our freedom to choose, to show to self and others that we are children of God by cultivating fruit We do this by focussing on Christ and abiding in Him.
Donald Gee tells the story of when he was young and tried to plant tomatoes. That particular summer was not very good for growing plants. His tomatoes never developed on the plants not even little green tomatoes. He was thrilled when he came outside one day to find big red ripe tomatoes on his vines. When he got closer he realized they were tied on by his mother. Sometimes, we also try to fake the fruit of the Spirit. We try to tie it onto an unchanged life.
Fruit is not a matter of effort and struggle, but it is the simple expression of the inner life of the tree. So, the Fruit of the Spirit is a simple expression of our inner life when we are abiding in Christ.
It is only as we constantly abide in Jesus that we bear fruit.
JN 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The question is, how are we cultivating the fruit in our everyday lives? Sometimes as Christians we attempt to avoid different things, eg don’t sin, don’t be unkind or impatient. But what about approaching the day with the reverse. Asking where we can show kindness, or being thankful for an opportunity to be patient, actively engage in peacemaking and so on. This, I think would help us to be effective salt and light.
Jesus was interested in our fruit (Matthew 7:15-23). One knows God's followers 'by their fruit'.
If the Spirit dwells in a person, that person will start taking on the characteristics described as the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit works to change Christians. It’s not automatic or sudden. Like everything else in this broken world and its broken people, it's something that arises in part, not completely, in this life. The Spirit is always working for something better.
Galations 5
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. 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. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
These fruit lists describe what a Christian's character grows into, over time.
In this passage Paul tells us how we are to respond to this freedom we have. We should choose to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. This is a choice that each of us as Christians make every day.
The Fruit
Love
Love must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty. Every virtue is an expression of love.
Joy
The Biblical Greek term in Galatians is chara: joy, cheer, gladness, or celebration. Joy runs deeper than mere pleasure; especially in a spiritual context, it runs deep into the core of us, and radiates throughout.
Peace
The Greek term is irenic : bringing or causing peace: peace-making, shalom, reconciliation. When something is done in an irenic way, it is being done in a way that helps find common ground, creates understanding and appreciation, or soothes sore points of dispute. Paul was calling Christians to be irenic when he wrote of his ministry as a "ministry of reconciliation".
Patience
To endure something with calmness; the ability to willingly accept or tolerate delay or hardship.
Kindness
Being of a friendly or generous nature; showing sympathy, mercy, empathy, or understanding; beneficial to something's function. "useful for others"
Goodness
To be helpful, to do things with excellence.
Faithfulness
Loyal, full of faith or trust; firmly and resolutely sticking with a person, group, cause, belief, or idea, without waver.
Gentleness
Soft, tender; well-managed, not sudden or rash or angry, taking care not to harm others.
Self-control
Asserting power over or management of one's desires, lusts, emotions, and feelings, and related behaviors, by way of one's determination or will. The ability to tell yourself "no" and make it stick. The ability to direct one's own behavior and harness one's energies.
As Christians we have been given freedom - we are not forced to live a certain way but we have freedom to choose how to live.
We can use our freedom to choose, to show to self and others that we are children of God by cultivating fruit We do this by focussing on Christ and abiding in Him.
Donald Gee tells the story of when he was young and tried to plant tomatoes. That particular summer was not very good for growing plants. His tomatoes never developed on the plants not even little green tomatoes. He was thrilled when he came outside one day to find big red ripe tomatoes on his vines. When he got closer he realized they were tied on by his mother. Sometimes, we also try to fake the fruit of the Spirit. We try to tie it onto an unchanged life.
Fruit is not a matter of effort and struggle, but it is the simple expression of the inner life of the tree. So, the Fruit of the Spirit is a simple expression of our inner life when we are abiding in Christ.
It is only as we constantly abide in Jesus that we bear fruit.
JN 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The question is, how are we cultivating the fruit in our everyday lives? Sometimes as Christians we attempt to avoid different things, eg don’t sin, don’t be unkind or impatient. But what about approaching the day with the reverse. Asking where we can show kindness, or being thankful for an opportunity to be patient, actively engage in peacemaking and so on. This, I think would help us to be effective salt and light.
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