“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22 -23
Summarize
in a Word:
Spiritual Fruitfulness
Key
Principle:
Christian ought to Bear Much Spiritual Fruit
Key
Application: We must
keep on walking in the Spirit
Main point of the Passage: We can overcome Sin and have Spiritual Fruitfulness when we
continuously walk in the Spirit.
Illustration: Charismatic
wave of seeking miraculous gift instead of fruit in Manipur
Exhortation:
Remember
what Christ has done for you and demonstrate the Fruit in your life too towards
other!
We all
want to overcome sin and live a spiritually
fruitful life. Don’t we? Many times, we make strategies and resolution but fail
to live out victoriously. This passage tells us to keep walking in the Spirit
because it is the Spirit that bears fruit
in us: Love, Joy Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness,
and Self-Control. What a package of Virtues! In Lord Jesus Christ we see all
these virtues in fullness.
Many
Churches in Manipur (India) are carried away by the charismatic wave in looking
for miraculous gifts. They thought
miraculous gifts are the means to have revival in the Church and Society. We do
not need miraculous gifts to do that. We
have the Spirit of God in us to produce this fruit that demonstrates Christlikeness. The Church will be lively, and society
will be transformed when we demonstrate this fruit.
We
cannot produce this fruit by ourselves. We must have the Spirit of God indwelling
us to produce this fruit. Christian has
the Spirit of God permanently when they got saved. Thus, Christian must continue
to walk in the Spirit to produce these virtues.
How
shall you do this? Study Scripture to know and reflect in your lives in all circumstances. The Spirit only works in consistent to Scripture. Remember what
Christ has done for you. He has demonstrated all these virtues towards you in
fullness while you were a wretched
sinner. And in a demonstration of this
fruit, would you be kinder to your neighbor? Would you be more loving when the
world is infected with selfish attitude? Don’t you want to be more like Christ?