The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-24 (NET) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Even though Evans had accepted the Lord Jesus and was being discipled in the Church, because he was truthful to himself, he knew that his life was not producing the fruit of the spirit. This bothered him greatly because he understood that the presence of the fruit of the spirit was a demonstration of spiritual growth and maturity. It took him some time of soul searching with God’s word for him to find out that he was not manifesting the fruit of the spirit because he had not crucified the flesh and its passions. For example, he loved movies so much that he would regularly miss his personal prayer time because of them. His excessive love for movies was a passion of the flesh that he needed to tame.

A believer who has not crucified the flesh and its passions cannot bring forth the fruit of the spirit. What God is doing in us believers is that He is conforming us to the image and the nature of Christ (see Romans 8:29). We were all born into this world with the Adamic nature which is sinful, but we must deny that nature and walk in the divine nature we have received through the Holy Spirit. Those who continue to walk in the Adamic sinful nature cannot please God, nor will they be able to inherit their thrones in God’s kingdom.

Go into today remembering that after believing in the Lord Jesus, denying the flesh (and its passions) is necessary if your life will bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit in any life is proof that that person has received the nature of Christ. When God evaluates us for promotion, he looks out for fruits.

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