Fruits of the Spirit

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

Over the years I have changed my taste in fruit. I don’t reach for the strawberries, pineapple or blueberries any longer but instead the bananas, and melons are my go to. I love the sweetness of the fruit but I can’t take the sour bite that follows a strawberry. Now if you throw on some almond milk and a bunch of Splenda to take the tart out of it then yes give me strawberries all day long. As we kick off a new series surrounding the fruits of the spirit I am reminded that just like there are many fruits of the spirit picking and choosing which ones we want to walk in isn’t an option for a believer.

Below is the list and over the next few weeks my prayer is that you will be challenged to truly see these fruits through a new lens.

Joy.

Peace.

Forbearance.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self Control.

I love that Joy kicks the list off and self control ends it. The enemy is out for both mine and your joy and he also sends everything our way to derail us in the self control department. Its easy on days to show kindness when we are feeling good about who we are, or if life is going great. Maybe when we have those “toes in the sand days” its easy to say God is good and also feel a great peace. Ladies lets be honest for a moment. What about days when we look into the mirror and see the extra roll around the top of our jeans, or the days when you and your spouse are arguing over pretty much everything. Those days do you see the fruit of the spirit in your life blossoming? If you are like me probably not.

Before we take apart the fruits I want to skip down a few verses.

Galatians 5: 24-25

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the spirit.

I can barely walk on a treadmill much less run. Recently my friend and I were at the local gym walking at our own paces. She is taller so she was walking much faster than me. I was walking at a pace that had my heart rate up and yet not jogging. There was another girl who was walking on a treadmill that had a different type of belt on it and let me just say without smiling she busted. I mean busted hard. I hate to say this but I went to laughter and my save the day nurse friend Ashley was ready to help.

I thought about that story today as I was reflecting on the verses above. Since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit. All of us on the treadmill, all walking in the direction but all at different speeds and yet she fell hard. She said her shoe was getting tripped up on the way the belt was. Goodness this is convicting to me because I have been saved by Jesus and I desire more than anything to walk to the beat of God’s goodness, in the direction of His will while embracing His grace and the truth of His word but if I am honest I often get tripped up on things and then find myself flat on my booty. I would choose to ignore the truths by trying to go around it and apply it to an area that maybe I wasn’t struggling in. I believe the same goes for the Fruits of the Spirt we tend to pick and choose the ones we want to walk in and yet we are told by God’s word we possess them all So if we are choosing to live out goodness and ignore self control in an area thats disobedience and we aren’t walking in step with the Spirit.

OUCH.

I know me too.

As we begin this new series and talk about these beautiful fruits I want you to stop and ask yourself which ones are you walking in and which ones are you choosing not to. I promise when you ask it will surface.

Ladies we have the power to change the environment in our workplaces, our marriages, our churches and so much more based on whether or not we choose to surrender and embrace the fact that we truly possess the following.