The Fruits of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 says,

 ‘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.’

The fruits of the spirit are a key thing that we need to seek within our lives. They show us so much about our lives, but they also show us so much about the character of God. How his spirit is a spirit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In all things God is always showing us the glory of the fruits of the spirit, whether in a time of praise or in a time of questions God remains loving, he remains faithful, gentle and the rest. God is in himself always showing us how we can exercise those in our lives too, in fact the way that we intend to use the fruits of the spirit is in both our relationship with God but also with those around us. It’s a key part of our journey and a key part of our worship. For if I am not exercising the fruits of the spirit then I am not truly coming to God with all of my heart.

It is a real struggle for us as humans to give over everything to God, because we naturally get pulled in so many directions with our hearts, but knowing God’s joy helps, knowing God’s peace helps, not only knowing that but using it in our own lives, staying faithful to our friends, handling difficult situations with gentleness, showing kindness to those that we meet and all the rest. There are so many things that get in the way of us and our worship of God, but sometimes using the fruits of the spirit as a checklist can help get our hearts and mind in the right position and although it’s often really hard, it’s always worth it, so I encourage all of you today to turn to God with a heart ready to exercise the fruits of Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.

 

Prayer points-

  • That we’ll seek God’s fruit of his spirit and exercise them in worship to him.
  • That we’ll know God’s fruits of his spirit in our lives and feel him close at the moment.
  • That moving into the next weeks we’ll see areas to reach out to others using the fruits of the spirit.
  • That we will know Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

 

Written by Josh Barnett, Intern for Swindon Youth for Christ