Spiritual Fruit

“But 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. Growing up I was never taught any of this and learning it in my 30’s now has been no easy task. Unlearning a bad habit isn't easy. I have had to deal with coming face to face with my anger and impatience since starting my walk with God. I never realized how bad I was and I’m still working every day to improve myself into a better version of me. The Holy Spirit has been very patient in cultivating my fruit thus far and has impressed upon me to write about why fruit of the Spirit is important, what it means, and what it does for people in general.

How you react to a situation or someone speaks volumes. If you handle something with anger and are easily offended, it’s impossible for you to be a successful leader, a good parent, or even a decent person. “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man.” Proverbs 22:24. It’s hard for you to function in society if your intentions are self-centered and malicious in nature. No one cares for someone flying off the handle or screaming at anything that doesn’t go their way. At least, that’s how I’ve always been and I used to take anyone doing that to me or towards me very personally and it’s something I’m working on to know that it’s not me but that person who is the problem. “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” Proverbs 15:18.

God is love and loving God and others like you love yourself is a must for walking like Christ. There are different kinds of love but mainly looking at how Jesus treated people gives you the right idea of how to treat others, even when others who don’t treat you right. You should try to be gentle and kind to them as long as they respect your boundaries and understand that you don’t know what they’re going through. There are times when you have to be blunt and defensive to protect your boundaries. If they have a history of being offensive, vulgar, or even  violent, the best idea is to keep your distance and love them from afar if you don’t have enough self-control to not get sucked into their game. Loving an angry, mean-spirited person is not an easy undertaking, but it is one that God requires all of us to do who are His children. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Joy and peace can only come from God and be maintained by seeking His presence and talking to Him daily. God can and does bring peace and joy in the worst circumstances. It’s good when God tests your faith because it makes you a stronger individual overall. “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4. Being faithful to God means that God will be faithful to you and even more so. God can and will supply all of your needs, including but not limited to your mental and emotional well-being. As long as you practice and cultivate self-control and the other fruits of the Spirit, God will never leave you and will never turn His back on you.

When you need help, all you have to do is ask God and He will be there. Maybe not in the way you want it or in the time that you want it, but God will always come through for His children who seek Him and strive to know Him. “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.