Abundant Christian Living - 31
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
Abundant Christian Living
Day 31 | THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Abundant Christian Living
Day 31 | THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Our FAMILY loves Christmas! Yes, we all know that Christmas is for celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – certainly the MOST IMPORANT “Reason for the Season – but we also love getting together, the decorations, the Christmas dinner, opening presents, the Christmas Eve service, and all of that too.
That got me to thinking about today’s verses. The FRUIT of the Holy Spirit is a GIFT to every person who has received Jesus as Lord and Savior… aka been “born again.” The Apostle Paul lists NINE Fruit of the Spirit… and we’ll just cover the first three over the next couple of days.
But, we shouldn’t become legalistic and expect every Christian to produce perfect Fruit all the time, but as we grow in Christ, we should see more and more Christlikeness and Fruit of the Spirit in one’s life. Lack of the Fruit of the Spirit in one’s life should cause that person – and those close to him – to wonder about the authenticity of that born-again experience.
Now let’s look at the first Fruit:
Love (Agape)
Innumerable books have been written about LOVE, though I suspect most from a secular, storytelling perspective. The Greek word for LOVE here is agape, the kind of love God has for us. If we are true Children of God, we should display this love too.
1 John 4:7-8: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Prayer: LORD, thank You for the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the FRUIT He brings into my life. As I have the Spirit inside of me, help me GROW in my yielding to Him and letting His gifts show through me. Amen.
Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Our FAMILY loves Christmas! Yes, we all know that Christmas is for celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – certainly the MOST IMPORANT “Reason for the Season – but we also love getting together, the decorations, the Christmas dinner, opening presents, the Christmas Eve service, and all of that too.
That got me to thinking about today’s verses. The FRUIT of the Holy Spirit is a GIFT to every person who has received Jesus as Lord and Savior… aka been “born again.” The Apostle Paul lists NINE Fruit of the Spirit… and we’ll just cover the first three over the next couple of days.
But, we shouldn’t become legalistic and expect every Christian to produce perfect Fruit all the time, but as we grow in Christ, we should see more and more Christlikeness and Fruit of the Spirit in one’s life. Lack of the Fruit of the Spirit in one’s life should cause that person – and those close to him – to wonder about the authenticity of that born-again experience.
Now let’s look at the first Fruit:
Love (Agape)
Innumerable books have been written about LOVE, though I suspect most from a secular, storytelling perspective. The Greek word for LOVE here is agape, the kind of love God has for us. If we are true Children of God, we should display this love too.
1 John 4:7-8: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Prayer: LORD, thank You for the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the FRUIT He brings into my life. As I have the Spirit inside of me, help me GROW in my yielding to Him and letting His gifts show through me. Amen.
Posted in Abundant Christian Living