Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Galatians 5:16 - 26
The bible makes us understand that fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring James 3:11, so also would not the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the flesh co-habit. We are either living by the Spirit or by the flesh. The Spirit does not agree with the things of the flesh, neither does the flesh agree with the things of the Spirit. For example, the Holy Spirit talks of love but the flesh talks of lust; these two seemingly the same but entirely opposite terms can generate an unending argument between the spiritual man and the carnal man. The carnal man who commits fornication because he believes he likes a lady sees it as love but the spiritual man calls it lust. The difference between love and lust can be seen by the spiritual man but the carnal man would deliberately refuse to see any difference. The bible says - to be spiritually minded is life and peace, but to be carnally minded is death. Therefore any one who is being ruled by the carnal mind is dead to the things of the Spirit, so would not be able to understand them, for the carnal mind does not understand the things of the Spirit.
The spiritual man is the one who has the Spirit of God living in him. A man cannot claim to be spiritual without bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit is the evidence that we are walking in the Spirit. The human vessel cannot be empty, it must be filled up with either positive things or negative things; that’s why our Lord Jesus gave a parable of a man from whom was cast out a demon, then the demon roamed about and came back to find out that the place from which he was cast out was still empty, then it went and invited seven more demons worse than itself to inhabit the man. This signifies that a man’s life must be controlled either by the Spirit or the flesh. If the Spirit is in control the flesh gives way and if it is the flesh that is in control the Spirit gives way. The bible is not unmindful of the fact that our flesh tend to rule over us several times, but the solution the bible gave is that we should walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are clearly spelled out in the above scripture and it will be pertinent for us to study each fruit vis -a- vis their antonyms (opposites), so we may have a better understanding.
- LOVE
The bible says we should walk in love. In order for us to understand what love is, there is need for us to see the opposite of love, which is hatred. The bible states that any one who hates his brother is a murder, Matthew 5:22; I John 2:9-11. Many of us may not want to agree with this scripture because it seems so harsh, but it is absolutely true. It is true because, if a man hates another man and he sees the other man drinking poison unknowingly, he may not care to tell him that it is a poison. He may give the excuse that he is not the one that told the man to drink it, neither is he the one that poisoned the food or water. But the question is -if that man drinks the poison and dies; who killed the man? Definitely it is that man that refused to warn him because he hated him. Several examples can be given of the disasters brought about by hatred, such examples as, brothers planning evil against brothers, friends against friends, neglecting to attend to a sick neighbour because of hatred, neglect to rescue a neighbours property from damage because of hatred, and others. For us to walk by the Spirit, we must love all men and be ready to assist them as long as we have the capacity to do so.
- JOY
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is a must for every believer. The Psalmist talked about the joy of salvation. This joy is as a result of the Spirit of God that rules our hearts. When we realize that the Spirit of God is within us and our lives are right with Him, we just know that we are happy whether we have little or much. There are many rich people that don t have joy, so Joy is not a result of wealth. Some youths think that once they obtain admission into an institution of their choice, that will bring them joy; but they are later to discover that such can only give them happiness for a brief period, which is bound to fade away as they encounter other challenges of life. As men grow, there are greater challenges; for example, the challenge to graduate with a good grade, of getting a good job, of marrying a good husband/wife, of buying a car, of building a house etc. One gets temporary happiness on accomplishing each of these things; but since the human taste is insatiable, men would always long for more. However, Joy teaches a man to be happy in each stage in life while striving for a higher level. You may not be satisfied with your present level but that does not remove the joy from you. The opposite of joy is sadness. A man that is always sad can hardly move forward, for his countenance is enough to put people away from him. If a man is not satisfied with his present level, the solution can never be sadness; because sadness would only make him to be jealous of those who have moved ahead of him. Jealousy is a fruit of the sinful nature. Be happy when others prosper, and God who sees your heart will also prosper you, and your joy will abound. Also, try to make others happy, for their happiness will result in you being happy too. This is a fruit of the Spirit; but making others sad by your actions such as denying them what rightfully belongs to them is a fruit of the flesh. Be joyful always, for this is the will of God concerning you.
- PEACE
Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. He will live in perfect peace whose heart is stayed on God. God gives His children peace in the midst of tribulation. A child of God remains calm and collected even in a seemingly hopeless situation because God gives him peace. The bible says that we should pray and give thanks, and the peace of God which passeth all human understanding will keep our hearts and mind. Therefore if you are walking by the Spirit you are a man of peace. The opposite of peace is tribulation or trouble. If peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it therefore implies that trouble is a fruit of the flesh. The bible says “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God” If the peacemakers are called the sons of God, then whose children are the trouble makers,they are definitely not the sons of God. Therefore if we walk in the Spirit we must be children of peace.
- LONG SUFFERING/PATIENCE
Patience is a virtue every born again Christian must possess, because without it we may loose track. If Abraham was patient to wait upon the promise of a son through Sarah, there might not have been an Ishmael. Joseph was patient and so would not sleep with Portiphars wife to quickly get to fame; he waited for the time appointed by God. Moses was very patient with the Israelites when bringing them out of Israel. God is a very patient God, for He said in II Peter 3:8 that He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. David was patient enough to be crowned king even after he was anointed several years back. If he was in a hurry, he could have killed Saul when he had the opportunity. The opposite of patience is impatience/hurry. If a man is always in a hurry, he may miss the mark. Some might have been promised greatness, and after waiting for two years without seeing any difference they tend to want to achieve that greatness by hook or crook. Mr. Flesh is always in a hurry. The flesh cannot wait for this your slow process of getting rich, it wants this wealth now, and so if you have to steal to make it happen, then do it quickly. If you have to lie to get that contract, do it quickly because your speaking the truth is slowing you down (that is always the way the flesh reasons). But the patient man would refrain from the temptation of stealing to satisfy his immediate needs; believing that God will never leave him or forsake him; therefore he will wait upon God and do only what is right. A patient lady when being tempted to want to exploit the joy of her sexuality will say she is reserving that for the time she will be married. But the impatient one will be in a hurry to taste what it’s like to have sex with a man. A patient man wouldn’t be in haste to fight or take matters to court, but an impatient man wants to always have his way no matter what it takes. Matthew 18:29.
KINDNESS - Kindness is a virtue most people will love to see others exhibit in relating to them, but which they themselves may not want to exhibit when relating to others. A man may want you to be kind to him by assisting him to process his papers so as to achieve whatever he wants to achieve, but when it comes to him doing the same for others, he finds it difficult. Kindness involves being willing to assist others, being polite and doing good. Unkindness, which is the opposite of kindness is almost like being wicked. This is because if you have the opportunity of assisting another person and you refuse to do it for selfish reasons, then you are being wicked. For example, if a man sustains a deep injury, and you have all the first aid kit needed to keep that man from bleeding to death and you refuse to do it then you are wicked. So, we see that kindness is a must for everyone who calls himself a believer, Eph 4:32. Let the golden rule be your guiding principle in showing kindness, which is “Do to others what you will have them do unto you”.
- GOODNESS
Goodness is the act of doing good deeds. Good deeds are countless. It is worthy of note that our salvation was not dependent on the good things we did. However, no man can claim to be born again without doing good deeds. You cannot claim to be born again if you shut your bowels of mercy to a suffering brother when you are well able to bring him out of such suffering, Proverbs 24:12-13. The opposite of good is bad, a bad man only think of how to harm his neighbour, how things should not go well with his neighbour, how the neighbour should remain in penury, how to deprive the neighbour of any good thing that accrues to him. If you find yourself doing any of these things then know for sure that you are not a good man. Because a good man does not only do good to others but also think good thoughts towards others.
- FAITHFULNESS
The bible says that it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful I Cor 4:2. A faithful man is the desire of every woman; a faithful worker is the desire of every boss; a faithful servant is the desire of every master; a faithful child is the desire of every father; a faithful minister is the desire of God. The opposite of faithfulness is unfaithfulness; and unfaithfulness in whatever form is evil, whether it be marital unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness at your work place, unfaithfulness to your master, unfaithfulness to God. Without faithfulness a man may not be able to serve God effectively, because God cannot trust such a man as to commit heavenly things to him. Therefore, anyone led by the Spirit of God must be found faithful.
- GENTLENESS
A child of God is a gentle man, not a weakling. Jesus Christ was gentle but never a weakling. He was accused of having a demon, he did not rain abuses on his accusers, and neither did he fight them. His good deeds were spoken against by the Pharisees yet he would not stop moving on. Nevertheless, when they were selling at the temple, he did not hesitate to drive them out. His gentleness was not weakness. Our Lord wasn’t a rough man; therefore we cannot afford to be rough people. Our Lord wasn’t a man that causes confusion therefore we shouldn’t be people that cause confusion. For God is not an author of confusion. This also implies that God does not support rebellion; therefore a gentle man cannot be a rebel, because rebellion only brings confusion.
- SELF CONTROL/DISCIPLINE
Discipline, self discipline, forced discipline are various terms used to denote regimented actions by individuals. Whether it is self discipline or forced discipline, God requires his children to be discipline. Don’t go is don t go, sit down is sit down, pray is pray. It takes discipline for you to obey God and pray when He is asking you to pray, whether it be 2a.m. It takes discipline to decide to study the word when others are in a party. It takes discipline for one to restrict himself to the places he visits. It takes discipline to fast, and it takes discipline not to eat everything you come across. It takes discipline to behold a half naked lady and not to continue looking. Indiscipline is a fruit of the flesh, for example, it is a fleshly lust that will make a man see a half naked woman and continue to fix his gaze at such. But a disciplined Child of God will call himself to order though his flesh longs to see the sight again. Therefore, discipline is bedrock for every child of God.
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