The fruit of the Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness

gentleness and self-control"

Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit of the Spirit is very important in a Christian's life. It is a display of the work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life. The of the Spirit demonstrates that we have accepted God into our lives and have a relationship with him. Which was only made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit make it clear to others that we are Christians.

We often fail in displaying the fruit of the Spirit but stays with us even when we fall into sin. 

I want to reflect on each of the fruit of the Spirit. 

Love: Love is mentioned so many times in the Bible. We are commanded to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbour as ourselves. It is important that we develop an intimate relationship with God and also show Christ's love to all man kind. 

Peace: We serve a God of peace, a God of Shalom. If we are filled with peace it should flow through all areas of our lives, what we do, our outlook on life, and how we treat others. Peace can also help us in times of suffering and struggling. 

Patience: When we are patient we are able to wait calmly and wait upon God's will for us. A patient person is willing to respond when and how the Lord desires. Sometimes it is after a time of patient prayer and waiting that we are able to discern but is best for ourselves and others. 

Kindness: Kindness really flows out of the love of others. It is when we become involved in meeting each others needs. Kindness is willingly and freely helping those who need a helping hand.

Goodness: Goodness is the desire to do what is right and just. Goodness also helps us with our natural desire to hurt those who hurt us and gives us the ability to forgive. 

Faithfulness: This is what inspires us to trust God even when we feel like he has abandoned us. 

Gentleness: Gentle people are careful not to hurt others, they respect other people opinion and beliefs and promote dialogue  without patronizing the other person.

Self-control: This is very important for the christian life. It helps us to set up boundaries and stay away from temptation. It helps us to fulfill our desires in the appropriate time and place. Self-control is something that can greatly aid us with temptation and not falling into sin. A person with self-control experience immense joy and happiness in fulfilling their desires because they are filling them in line with God's will. 

As a team it will be important for us to remember to display the fruit of the Spirit to each other even when we are tired and we don't want to show any love to each other. We also need to show the fruit to the Spirit to those we are serving. It is important for people to be able to see the Spirit working in us.