By Mark Maher
Each and every day God’s working on you. I’m not sure if it’s training or testing or probably both. But when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and soul, it’s developing and nurturing the 9 fruits; “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
These nine fruits can be increased in capacity. Let the spirit work. The fruits of the spirit should be a focus every day. Let this take center stage over all those other tasks. Develop the fruit. The fruits of the spirit are to bless others. Allow the spirit to work. This is not something you do in your own strength. It’s the spirit working in you.
We are the vessel. Our job is to empty ourselves of our spirit and fill ourselves with His. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4)
The best fruit come from strong roots. Get the word of God inside you. Fill your container with his Word. Allow each fruit to grow as one. “The more we soak ourselves in the love of Jesus, the more the fruit of the Spirit will naturally appear.” J.D. Greear
LOVE: “We know that we have come to know and believe that God loves us. God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16)
JOY: “They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.” (2 Corinthians 8:2)
PEACE: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3)
PATIENCE: “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:25)
KINDNESS: “Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.” (Proverbs 19:17)
GOODNESS: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
FAITHFULNESS: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2)
GENTLENESS: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.” (2 Timothy 2:24-25)
SELF-CONTROL: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” (Proverbs 25:28)
The Christian life is an active life. We pursue the fruit, actively developing, stretching, increasing the capacity, until it’s overflowing, in abundance, abounding, can no longer be contained. You will become blessed to be a blessing. Your call is simply to stay connected to the vine and fill up with His Word. God will take care of the rest.
