The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Devotional

The fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians 5:22-23 gives me tremendous hope for my own life. Scripture says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” When I read that list I receive a vision of who I long to be. I long to be a person full of love, joy, and peace. I long to have patience, kindness, and goodness. I long to be marked by faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Who wouldn’t? I see within those incredible characteristics the marks of a fully abundant life. I see Jesus.

At the same time, I see myself in light of these incredible fruits of the Spirit. I see all the ways in which my life doesn’t line up with what the Holy Spirit desires to birth in me. How can we, in all our sin and brokenness, live a life marked by these characteristics? How can we be a people so full of the Spirit that our very being portrays the Spirit of God who dwells within us?

God longs to tell you and me today that by his grace, a life marked by the fruit of the Spirit is entirely possible—but only by his grace. In and of myself, I can produce none of these wonderful characteristics. In my own strength, I will only produce selfishness, laziness, and pride. “But with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). The Bible calls these characteristics fruit for a reason. They are birthed out of the glorious working of God in us. They come entirely by God’s grace.

So how do we allow the Holy Spirit to work at the core of our being and produce these wonderful fruits? How do we become children of God marked by the working of the Spirit in our lives? It comes from being connected to our source, that he might plant seeds that grow within us. As we spend time with God we become like him. In his presence our heart transforms into a greater reflection of his glorious love. He can do incredible and miraculous things in us if we simply open our hearts and spend time abiding in him. The more time we spend receiving his love for us, the more areas of brokenness and sin become healed and transformed. If you want to bear the fruit of the Spirit—if you want to be a person marked by the working of God at your core—then you must spend time each day simply being loved by God.

There is no shortcut to holiness. There is no trick to godliness. Jesus has made a way for us to enter into the holy places and see the face of God. God will do magnificent things in you today if you will follow the path laid before you by Jesus and spend time resting in the presence of your heavenly Father. Receive his love. Allow the words he speaks over you to transform the way you view yourself and the world around you. Spend time in prayer meditating on his word and allowing your heart to become more like Jesus’ today.