But this is not what we are to talk about. We need to differentiate between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. The measure of our spirituality is not in our gifts but in the production of genuine fruit. This story might help us understand:

    The scripture says "You shall know them by their fruit" And again "They will know that you are my disciples if you love one another."

    There were two trees side by side. One a christmas tree and the other an orange tree. One was laden with fruit, one with gifts. The fruit of the orange tree was picked and eaten. The fruit was delicious proving the tree was well fed with the right nutrients. If the fruit was dry and tasteless the tree would well have been starved of life giving water and nutrients. The christmas tree was covered with gifts, bright and sparkling. It was well received and very popular. But the tree was dead. Suffice to say that spirituality is not shown by the gifts of God but by the production of genuine fruit.

    However the fruit of the Spirit has to do with our emotions, our thought processes and our attitudes. That part of us that sincerely represents our innermost being. These expressions can be seen behind the facard of false fronts and masks which we tend to put up They show to others what we are really like inside. Whether we are prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to have free reign in our lives instead of this front that we sometimes put up for church situations.

    So let’s look at what the Bible says about this fruit: In Galatians ch5 v22-23 we are given a list That is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These we will look at very shortly but before we do that let us again consider how this all works. We of course were made in the image of God, that is, we are made in three parts as God is, body soul and spirit. And like God the part that has control is the mind. Our body is easily seen and so are the actions we do but it is more difficult to hand over the control of our emotions and our attitudes to the Spirit of God living within us.

    In Ephesians ch4 v1-3 says "As a prisoner for the Lord then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received . Be completely humble, gentle: be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

    Further in Galatians verse23 it is said that "against this there is no law." (NIV) The authorized version puts it this way "For this is the law of God." In chapter6 v2 "Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

    And so we see ways in which the Spirit can be expressive yet again we can often work at being a doer and in fact getting in the way of the Holy Spirit and His work.

    When you consider the implications of this, it seems almost like a conundrum which cannot be fathomed. It is much more difficult to understand than at first thought because we can so easily decide to live the life of a Christian, and indeed we should, but often enough this can become just a matter of form. We so easily at church, or wherever else, put on a form of godliness and appear just so super spiritual and spirit led when all we have is a veneer of loveliness. When fruit gets a disease, it often starts from the outside. The skin is either pierced or damaged. The flesh soon starts to rot. The Holy Spirit can only show the real genuine fruit when we peel that veneer away. Think of a banana and how it looks like a lovely banana but yet it has no real value unless you peel the outer skin off, expose the edible part and enjoy the fruit. God wants to enjoy our fruit and also to share it with others. Let us shed our skin and let our holy God share our fruit with others.

    It is so easy today in this time of professionalism to have the best and biggest church, the hottest music, the best counsellors, the best speakers, the best youth group, the best outreach programme, the biggest number of converts, and yet not be allowing the spirit of God to flow through us. And all that is seen is really the skin, the planned and humanly sophisticated outer shell.

    Are our lives just the same? What do people see, a facade of love, a hollow joy, a false peace, an impatient patience, a misdirected kindness, a corrupt goodness, a disloyal faithfulness, a rough gentleness and control rather than self control. These are questions that we should ask ourselves and seek our God with the answers.

    It is right that we set goals and work out our salvation as the scripture says but we should make every effort to ensure that the fruit of the Spirit is able to work through us and be spiritually attractive to those who would seek God. God’s very nature should be expressed through us. This very nature that took Him to the cross in love for us. An automatic reaction. not a planned one

    Often enough when driving a manual car we will attack a hill, sometimes in too high a gear and the vehicle will shudder and struggle, cackle and ping struggling up the hill, and sometimes in too low a gear when it will rev its heart out and almost destroy itself, both situations when we have decided how it should go. When in reality in an automatic car the machine takes these decisions away from us and selects the correct gear for the situation. The job is done in the right way at the right speed with the right result and no harm is done to anything. If we give over to the Lord Himself and let Him express His virtues (fruit) through us, the result has to be as He desires.

    God’s nature, God’s expression, generated by the indwelling Spirit, uninhibited by man’s designs, flowing out towards God and other people.

.   Not our idea of what we think the fruit should be but what God wants.

    How can we encourage this to happen?

    Let us allow the Holy Spirit to merge with our human spirits so we can more fully express Him.

Meditate on My word day and night.

Follow the leading of the Spirit.

There is an old saying (fools rush in where angels fear to tread).

There is an old song that the words go something like this

So forget ourselves and concentrate on him and worship him

So forget ourselves and concentrate on him and worship him

So forget ourselves and concentrate on him and worship him

Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

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