How To Apply The Fruit Of The Spirit Series

A short way of saying this is: I don’t start out doing good things, but by the direction and by the help of the Holy Spirit I end up doing good things. When I focus on my relationship with Jesus Christ, the outgrowth is good works.

How is this different than doing good at the start? Very simply, if I am living to be a good person, I am doing everything on my own – and ultimately it is all about me. I am in fact attempting to justify myself with my good works. However, if I first focus on Jesus Christ and my relationship with him, if this relationship grows ever stronger, then God will provide the Fruit of the Spirit, so that my actions are selfless, godly, Spirit driven and will be effective eternally. See, it is these types of good works, the works that are by Spirit effort that will follow us in the afterlife, NOT the works done by human effort.

That is a sobering thought.

Paul in this letter to the Galatians is showing us how to move away from living like we always have lived, by what comes naturally, and how to learn to live by the Spirit. Look we most certainly can become Christians and then just live like we always have, many, many have done this.

If you do not do this, if you become a Christian and then live as you always have in a natural state then, you will never rise above your natural self, you will have nothing but spiritual failure, you will spiritually, amount to nothing. You will just be like everyone else. I hate to be harsh, but, these are the facts, and this may be why you are frustrated in your life. This is why Paul tells us that God is not mocked. We cannot pretend, we cannot really fake it. We can make people here on earth believe that we are strong Christians, but God will always see through how we live, and we will fail to reap things of the Spirit because we fail to sow things of the Spirit.

HOWEVER, God has a way for us to live as spiritual people who don’t have to fake it.

We stop living a life with the goal of being good people.

We start living a life with the goal of being faithful people.

We stop attempting to correct ourselves and others by human effort.

We start paying very close attention to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

The result of closer attention to our relationship with Jesus Christ will yield Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit that develops in our life will then empower us to live as Christ Jesus desires us to live.

Let us pray.