Remembering the Fruits of the Spirit.
When you make the decision to follow Christ and call yourself a Christian, the bible says the “Holy Spirit” will come to live within you, and you’ll have access to tap into The Fruits of the Spirit.
The Fruits of the Spirit are attributes that help you stand out and be a light in this world.
In Galatians 5:22, the bible explains how the Holy Spirit produces the following fruit in your life:
Love | Joy | Peace | Patience | Kindness | Goodness | Faithfulness | Gentleness | Self-control.
The purpose of today’s message is to help you remember the fruits of the spirit and how you can use them every day.
LOVE – Remember that your creator loved you so much, that he died for you.
Last week, as we ended the month of love, we had dived deep into love itself. How to identify your love language, but also to inspire you to strive to speak all five love languages fluently, like Christ. In order to love others, you must first erase what today’s culture teaches. True love sacrifices. That means putting the needs of others, above your own - The complete opposite of what is being taught today, which is to put yourself first. Sometimes that could come in the form of the love languages we touched on last week. However, the point is, you have to put your own needs and desires to the side, and actually put in some work, to display your love to one another.
JOY – Remember the hope you have in Jesus.
Loving and serving others must be done from an attitude of Joy, knowing that Joy comes from the lord. Therefore, you can happily move from task to task, from a place of gratitude, as all the work you do is not for men, but it’s for the Lord. When you do great work, it’s a reflection of what Christ can do in you. And in order to do great work, you must be working from a heart of Joy, even when you’re tired and just “not in the mood”. Often times, I find myself “not in the mood” to do things I know need to be done, but the moment I start moving, the motivation and the “feelings” start to catch up with my actions. Remember what Jesus did for you; he gave you a free life. Everything else is bonus – pure joy.
PEACE – Remember to pray.
When you spend time with God in prayer, he gives you peace. Peace is a gift from God that the world doesn’t understand how or where it comes from. When Life shakes you up, it’s at those very moments, that you should reach out to God and seek his guidance and direction. Seek to be in his presence, so that he may give you the peace and clear mind you need, to move forward.
PATIENCE – Remember difficult circumstances build endurance.
Each day is filled with its own speed bumps and potholes that trip you up. God is using these scenarios to build your patient endurance. You see, if you always got your way like a spoiled brat, you’ll never have the opportunity to build your patience. Instead of looking at the “hard things” you do on a daily basis as a burden, start looking at them from a different lens. Start looking at those tedious things as a test that will sharpen you for the future. Find the blessings in your journey, from start to finish. And be patient, knowing God is going to come through, as he always does in his perfect timing.
KINDNESS – Remember how kind God has been to you.
When you think of all the times God has showed you his kindness through his grace and mercy, try to think of how desperately you needed it. And then think of how others may need the same. Humans are fragile, as our souls craves a love that can only be found in Christ. Therefore, people tend to search for happiness in the wrong places and end up feeling unsatisfied with life. And more often than not, we are not expressing this to one another – it’s all happening in the mind. Therefore, be kind. Your smile, your help, your kind words could be the only taste of kindness someone gets to experience. God rewards you for your kindness, because when you do this, you are allowing him to use you to express his love to others.
FAITHFULNESS – Remember God is a man of his word and keeps his promises.
As I often like to say, you can bank on God’s word. When you feel like God is not coming through, remember a time when he DID. Even when you can’t see exactly what he’s doing while you wait, you can trust that he has a plan (just like the last time), and he’s going to move all the pieces together, in his timing. In the meantime, you can be faithful with what you already have. I often find that God is asking me to work with what I already have, so that I can be ready for the next step. And maybe he’s asking you to do the same. Girl, write down everything God has blessed you with (hint: the list is never ending), and then plot on how you can be faithful with what you have right now. You have to give God something to work with. You have to get up and take leaps of faith, toward him and then trust he’ll guide you along the way. Because he’s always by your side – though the good and the bad. But he also knows where he is taking you, and it’s up to you to trust him and be faithful.
GENTLENESS – Remember that Jesus is humble and gentle.
Have you ever had someone tell you to do something in an aggressive way? Think of how you felt. I’m pretty sure you didn’t feel motivated to do the thing, and maybe even mumbled some not so nice things about the one who asked aggressively. No one responds well to a spirit of hostility and anger. Me personally, I hate when people tell me what to do (sometimes my battiness shows), but that’s a whole other story for another day. My point is this, you don’t have to be harsh to get your point across. People will listen to you more, when you provide them with gentle words.
SELF-CONTROL – Remember boundaries are a good thing.
Those who lack self-control, find themselves dabbling in foolish behavior. Self-sabotaging behavior that will eventually drive one insane. You must set up Godly boundaries for yourself, to keep you from falling down unfulfilling rabbit holes. When you have boundaries, and make them known to others around you, you will be respected. Long ago, I struggled with many things and had zero boundaries. In return, I was not respected. My partner at the time used to physically hit me and call me horrid names and say wicked things to me like, “you’re such a fat (insert the b word here)”, or “no one will ever love you”. This abuse just made me eat more, and chained me down to depression, where I didn’t have the desire to do anything beneficial for myself, let alone the kingdom of God. I had no self-control of my bad habits, and in return, others didn’t respect me. In those days, I was lost and desperately needed to know and remember what the word God says about me and who I am. Self-control could look like, saying “no” to hanging out with people who don’t uplift you. Self-control could look like, turning off the TV and picking up the bible. Self-control could look like not partaking in drugs at a party for the sake of being social. Self-control is about loving yourself and keeping yourself at a high standard – exactly where God wants you to be as his child.
I’m not sure if you caught it while reading, but the theme here is to remember what you already have. You don’t have to go searching the world for happiness. If you have already accepted God into your heart, you already have the Holy Spirit within you, tapping you on the shoulder to let you know you already have more than enough Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Faithfulness, Goodness, and Self-Control. And these gifts bring you happiness. You just need to remember to use them. And that means waking up each morning and saying “no” to what you want to do with your life and saying “yes” to whatever God has planned for you. All you need to do is be ready to intentionally use these gifts throughout your day. Trust me, you’ll need them ALL on a day-to-day basis, to live a crazy amazing life. The life Jesus died to give you.
With all my love,
Alicia Eve Varela.
