Understanding the Fruit of the Spirit

… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.

The moment we become born again, our old life has passed away and a new life with God awaits us. This new life entails us letting go of our past characteristics and embracing new characteristics in Christ. In order to embrace this new life, we have the Holy Spirit in us that helps and guides us to make the right choices and act right. Simply put, the Holy Spirit is our guide. 

In our new journey as Christians, it is possible that one may slip into old ways and find his or her way back to Christ; that is fine. But there is a certain level we reach in our faith that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are conscious of the fact that there are certain ways we are permitted to act.

We are transformed individuals and there are certain attributes that we should exude. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he detailed the attributes that Christians should possess, which are listed as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With the help of the Holy Spirit and your yielding to the spirit of God, every Christian should possess all these characteristics listed above. 

I know for a fact that all these may actually seem like a lot of work. Well, it is, but understand the fact that our journey in Christianity isn’t something that we can rely on our own strength for. Our consciousness to walk with the Lord and the holy spirit at work in us are factors that can help us achieve this. And as we know, with the Lord helping us through the comforter, there isn’t anything we can’t achieve. 

Let us study the Bible more closely so that we can gain a deeper understanding of these qualities.  

Love, the first attribute mentioned, is one of the greatest concepts in Christianity. Not only is it the greatest commandment mentioned in the scripture, it was the basis of Christ dying for us. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this—that someone lay down his life for his friends. Love as a commandment was given to us in two folds, first, we should love the Lord our God and second, we should love our neighbours as ourselves. 

Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” The last statement shows us the importance of love; it says that all the law and the prophets—that is, basically everything—hang on the commandment.

The next is Joy. Joy, as I would explain it, might mean an advanced form of happiness. The joy in the scripture is the joy that comes from knowing the Lord. In different verses of the scripture, the concept of joy is a gift from God that transcends circumstances and is deeply rooted in one's relationship with Him. 

Psalm 16:11 (NIV): "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." This verse highlights the source of true joy as being in the presence of God.

Peace, the third attribute mentioned, is a state where there is stillness and it is beyond the things of this world. The peace that we have in God is the one that surpasses all understanding, as seen in Philippians 4:7 (NIV): "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

The concept of peace and joy reminds me of one of my favorite songs by Maverick City. The lyrics are: … I've still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no sense. It just goes to show that when you have peace and joy from God as Christians, it is the highest form you can ever get. This form is not anything this world can give and as such, we must live our lives with the consciousness that God has given us peace and joy. Remember the words of Jesus in John 14:27 (NIV): "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Next is forbearance. The dictionary meaning of this is patience, self-control, restraint, and tolerance. As Christians, in our daily dealings, it is possible we face circumstances that may tempt us to flair up, but since we are who we are in Christ, flaring up isn’t an option. This is where forbearance comes in—the ability to tolerate people regardless of the circumstances. 

In Ephesians 4:2 (NIV): "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." The Bible urges believers to patiently tolerate and bear with one another out of love. 

Looking back at all these points that have been listed above, this is a call for every individual and that includes me, to scan their lives and see if they are lacking in any of the attributes a Christian should possess. If one is lacking in any, now is the right time to ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance as you navigate life as a transformed person. 

All these attributes are important and as I finish up the explanation of the remaining fruits of the spirit in the next article, I want us to keep this in mind. As children of the Lord that aren’t given to flesh, people should be able to tell from your behaviour that you are a transformed person. If they can’t tell, then a change is needed.

Following my last article, where I talked extensively about love, joy, peace, and forbearance as fruits of the spirit,. I will be delving into kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to finish up the topic, understanding the fruit of the spirit. 

As I have already stated, we are changed people, and there are certain qualities we ought to radiate. The qualities of a Christian include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities are outlined by the apostle Paul in his epistolary letter to the Galatians. These are all qualities that every Christian ought to have, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and your submission to God's spirit.

Let us study the Bible more closely so that we can gain a deeper understanding of these qualities.

Kindness: The dictionary explains this term as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. I am sure the term “Kindness” is not strange to most of us, but the only thing is that I am not sure we fully understand the concept. 

If we look at the scriptures, the term is used severally to describe our relationship with God. it was used to show our saviour died for us because of this “kindness” he had towards us. It is not strange that we were instructed to be kind to one another, as Christ was always kind to us, even when we didn’t deserve it. Titus 3:4 (NIV): "But when the kindness and love of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done...

Since we ought to be Christlike, it is best that we start acting generously, friendly, and considerate towards people. Being kind entails being compassionate, generous, considerate, empathetic, and friendly. It may be hard to keep up with being kind because of the way humans can be, but we have been called to do so and we will do so with the help of the Holy Spirit. 

Next on the list of the fruits of the spirit is faithfulness. As explained by Wikipedia, faithfulness means unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something and putting that loyalty into consistent practice regardless of extenuating circumstances. It is as simple as that but a little bit complex. 

As Christians, we are called to be loyal to ourselves and also to God. Being faithful as a Christian is a character trait that we must always imbibe. I sometimes pray like this when offering thanksgiving to God, “Despite our unfaithfulness, you still remain faithful to us. Thank you, Lord.” 2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV): "If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

Using Christ as our perfect example, do you know the hurt he must have felt for the people he was trying to save to spit on him and eventually lead him to the cross? Still, in all this, he was loyal to God and us and paid our debts for us. 

Faithfulness, which can also be classified as loyalty, is unwavering. Say for example, that you had a friend who let you in on secrets, but after a while, the two of you fell out. Regardless of what happens, your loyalty still remains; that is the life we were called to live. Proverbs 3:3-4 (NIV): "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."

And to God, when it feels you can’t hear him, in your trials, in everything, you must at all times be faithful to God. You must at all times be faithful, not unwavering, not switching sides. 

Goodness, as the name implies, is the act of being good. This isn’t far fetched; how can you be a child of God and not be good? But then again, we are not unfamiliar with the wiles of the devil. Just like the Bible says, he is always lurking around, seeking whom to turn away from doing good. And it is because of this that we Christians have to be vigilant so evil doesn’t creep into our lives. The Bible says in Romans 12:21 (NIV): "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

The following scriptures talk about how we are called to be good to people, especially our siblings in Christ. Galatians 6:10 (NIV): "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." 

We are also called to be great representatives of doing God’s good works, and we can only do that when we are good. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV): "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Gentleness can be interpreted as being meek. As christians, we are called to be gentle in our manner of approach, the way we speak and everything we do generally. We must be distinct from the rest of the world, just as we have been said to do in Ephesians 4:2 (NIV): "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Lastly, Self control which has been defined as restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires,. In Christian terms, it is putting your body under subjection. You don’t let your flesh decide how you should act or speak; you have to have control over your behaviour. Since we have been made to live a God filled life, let your behaviour be subject to God.

Conclusion

In concluding this topic, let me leave you with this. Knowing that we are God’s representatives on earth, we have to imbibe all these characters in our day to day lives. Will it be easy? Probably not, but is it doable? Yes, it is. How so? Well, that is because we are not doing it on our own accord; we are doing it with the help of the Holy Spirit.