"He brings gifts into our lives"- Galatians 5:22-23 (MSG)

When God works in a person's life, there is an emergence of what is called "fruit." 

To describe what "fruit" is we have to take a look at what God is attempting to accomplish in our lives first.

"You are like a tree, planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry. Your fruit ripens in its time; your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun. No matter what you do, you prosper." 

Psalm 1:3 (VOICE)

God is changing our hearts and minds to reflect him, which in itself seems like an impossible task to change a mortal human being to reflect an immortal God, which is precisely what God is doing in our lives.

It's exciting and, at the same time, challenging because He tends to stir up things in our lives that need to be surrendered. These may not be defined as areas of sin in our lives, as much as past hurts and pains, which we have been neglected over time. He is telling us to surrender these past hurts because these areas are buried very deep, and sometimes forgotten with our conscious mind but can control our present reality. 

God never stirs up hurt in our past without giving us the resource to meet that pain tenderly and lovingly by always affirming us and loving us through it.

 "…especially in Jerusalem. He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts. 

They will be called "Trees of Justice," planted by the Lord to honor his name." 

Isaiah 61:3 (CEV)

God plants the fruit joy in place of tears of pain or loss because that is the nature of God. He sees us where we presently are and desires for us to live in His freedom. Freedom from emotional and physical pain that grips us is part of the overall inheritance offered by God to His followers.

  

Another fruit of the Spirit that God is working into us is His peace. In our world, with its anxious push for control and dominance, there is a real sense of a loss of peace that comes from our political leaders and from our employers.

The primary focus of this world is for tighter control and restriction of freedoms. God desires just the opposite, for us to find Him and His peace through an ongoing relationship with Christ Jesus.

Yet, another attribute of the fruit of the Spirit is patience, which goes hand in hand with God's peace. Patience is entering into God's rest, which is ceasing from our own way and recognizing that He is in charge of all things, so we can stop our striving to get our way and trust that our God has a better way for us to follow.

Gentleness and goodness are aspects of the Holy Spirit that are transformative by their very nature; this kind of fruit grows from a deep connection to Christ Jesus.

 "As Jesus was coming out to the road, a man came running to him and knelt in front of him. He asked Jesus, "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." 

Mark 10:17-18 (GW)

There is nothing in our nature that is good, except what God does through us.

The fruit of gentleness and meekness, which are often misunderstood as being weak, whare are embodied strengths. 

Websters 1828 dictionary defines gentleness as softness of manners, mildness of temper; sweetness of disposition; and tenderness. 

Meekness in an evangelical sense is humility; resignation; submission to the divine will, without murmuring or peevishness (or being temperamental); opposed to pride, arrogance, and refractoriness (otherwise numbness of soul).

Temperance or Moderation is another aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, defined as a restraint or Moderation from our natural passions, calmness, or sedateness.

We also have faith, which is also a fruit that grows in our lives. Faith isn't something that we can create on our own because it is something that comes from the Holy Spirit. If we could create faith in our lives, then there would be no reason for Jesus, because we could just become better people and trust God to work out the details. 

 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

Galatians 2:20 (BRG)

The truth is we can't create faith, we trust in the faith of Jesus which is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit.  He is living His Life through us to form and shape us into the Father's image.

"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see." 

Hebrews 11:1 (MSG)

We have a unique perspective on life, Jesus is our life, and He is everything that we need, for our life is in Christ.

 Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the truth, also the life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!" John 14:6-7 (MSG)

To use the analogy, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are Godly characteristics that are imparted to us through a relationship with Jesus.  We are like firmly planted trees that are placed by the rivers of living water that bring forth fruit that reflect the water source that brings life to us and fullness to the fruit we bear.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett