Monday, December 7, 2009

The Fruit of the Spirit

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us? Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God. This idea can make us very self-conscious. We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God's presence in their lives. But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions.

The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22). These fruits speak for themselves. It is therefore always better to raise the question "How can I grow in the Spirit?" than the question "How can I make others believe in the Spirit?"

1 comment:

Bro. S. D. Ashe said...

Bro Hunt
In the Greek grammar of Galatians 5:22 there is only ONE fruit and that ONE FRUIT is LOVE it is the only NOUN in that description. The other 8 words ("joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control") used are all ADJECTIVES describing how that ONE noun LOVE is seen, used, functions and is manifested in, and through, our lives to the church and to the world.
Just thought you'd like to know.
Jesus Bless You
Elder S. D. Ashe
Study The Word Ministries
studythewordministries@hotmail.com