A Fruit Basket in Your Soul

A Fruit Basket in Your Soul (Galatians 5:22)

Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

As believers, we stand before God approved and acceptable. We are embraced and loved by God, looked after and cared for by God. We are the heir of eternal life, not because we deserve it, nor because we have kept enough laws to win the approval of God. We have been accepted by God because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for man's transgressions of the law. He died to free men from the law, from its judgment and condemnation. Therefore, standing before God, the believer is not there because he has kept laws and has earned the right to stand there. He is there because of his faith in Jesus Christ. His faith honors God's Son, and God loves His Son so much that He honors anyone who believes in His Son. He honors the person by doing exactly what the person believes. Therefore, the man who believes that Jesus Christ makes him acceptable to God becomes acceptable to God.

If you are a child of God, the Bible says you really ought to produce fruit. A fruit tree will produce fruit. So if you are a child of God, when the world sees you, there should be no questions about your salvation. If you are a child of the King, the world ought to see you and know who you are. The world should know whom you belong to. The first thing they will detect about you is your love. The thing about love is that you cannot hide it. If love is there, love will lift its head every time.

NOTICE: “…against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23). The believer has to approach God through Jesus Christ and not through the law. The believer is freed from the law. He is not under the law but he is under Jesus Christ. Does this mean then that the believer has no restraint upon his or her life and behavior; that they are free to live like they want? Are they free to follow the desires and lusts of their flesh—to seek the things of the world and give in to the urges to look, think, touch, taste, and do? The answer is no! For the believer has been given God's nature; he walks through life bearing God's nature (I Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; II Peter 1:4). God has absolutely nothing to do with sin, it’s not within His nature. Therefore, the believer is not to cave in to the lusts of the flesh; they are to walk bearing the fruit of God's nature, that is, the fruit of God's Spirit.

In Matthew 26, there was woman called Mary who couldn't contain her love. She showed it by taking a box of expensive ointment and pouring it on the feet of Jesus. Then she took her hair and wiped His feet. That was love. When love is present, you'll know it because when you love somebody you will be talking about the person all the time. How can we say we love Jesus and never bring up His name? But when a person is really in love, they don't care where they are. They talk about you in the department store; they talk about you in the bank; they'll bring up your name on the job. And that's the way it ought to be if you are in love with Jesus. Bring up His name wherever you are. You don't have to gossip in garbage. No, no, there's enough about Jesus to keep you busy all day long.

True godliness engages our affections and awakens within us a desire to enjoy God's presence and fellowship. It produces a longing for God Himself. This is the heartbeat of the godly person. This longing for God also produces a desire to know God more, to glorify Him, and to be more Christlike. This is God's ultimate objective for us and is the object of the Spirit's work in us. God wants us to become more and more like Jesus Christ. To become the Christian God wants us to be we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Your fruit will also be joy and peace. You can be on hard times and still have joy. When you've got joy, it will fall off on somebody else. People around you can't stay sad. You have the peace of knowing God will make a way.

Questions to Consider:

• Which one(s) do you feel you most need to grow in right now?

• In what ways do you see the Spirit's fruit ripening in your life?
• Given your personality, which godly character traits are most challenging for you? Which ones are easier?

• Can you think of one person who manifests the character of Jesus Christ so much that when you are with then, you feel as if you have been with Jesus?

Points to Ponder:

• The Holy Spirit might choose to produce different fruit in your life.
• The key is not what is produced, but that the Holy Spirit is free to work through you.

• Ask God to show you areas of your life in which He can produce His fruit within you.

• Write down some ways the Lord is using you to display His fruit in your life.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for sowing Your Spirit and Word into my life. Help me yield to the divine seed You have planted inside me. I know that Your life resides in me, longing to be released, so today I make the choice to let Your Spirit start working mightily inside me. Thank You for the life of God that is flowing up from my spirit right now, producing the life and the nature of Jesus Christ in me. In Jesus name, Amen.

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