the fruits of the spirit
Everywhere we look, we see evil. Evil people. Evil Thoughts. Evil acts. And it seems as though it gets worse by the day. Just when you begin to have hope in humanity again, you learn about some new evil lurking in the dark world around you. As Christians, we know that we’re all evil by nature. Our flesh has a constant desire for sin, whether that’s lust, greed, envy, anger, gluttony, pride, a mix of all, or something completely different. When you realize this, it’s no wonder so many unthinkably awful things happen in this world. Nothing good happens when we follow our own desires.
But God. Those two words in Ephesians 2:4 remind us that we don’t have to give in to those selfish desires because He made us alive in Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses (Eph. 2:5). But we shouldn't be content just by acknowledging the grace we so undeservingly received, and the new life we were given. We must also use it for good. Further down the page, in verse 10, Paul writes to the Ephesians, “For we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Reread that last part. Did you catch it? We should be walking in our good works, not just doing them. They don’t solely consist of the good deeds we do and the services we give, but also in the way we carry ourselves and live out our lives. A huge part of combatting evil and showing people who Jesus is is by being like Him ourselves. Our lives should be reflecting Galatians 5:22, but too many Christians reflect the few verses before it and fuel the evil instead of combat it. Sometimes we focus too much on sewing the good fruit, that we become ignorant to the bad fruit we’re reaping in the mean time:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” -Galatians 5:19-21
When Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave us His spirit so that we wouldn’t have to face the trials of life alone. He knew that if left alone, we would give into the temptations of the world. But if we let the Holy Spirit guide our lives and listen to our convictions, we will have the strength to live lives that bear the good fruit of Jesus, not the bad fruit of the world. The evil we see in the world stems from a lack of good fruit, not just in the lives of unbelievers, but also, sadly, in the lives of Christ's followers. We need to be a better job of living like Christ because we could be the only glimpse of Him that someone will see in their life. They will see Him in the way we love God and our neighbors. In the way we have joy no matter the current circumstances of our lives. In the peace we have despite not knowing what our futures hold. In the patience we have while waiting for God's timing. In the kindness we show everyone, despite the way they treat us. In the goodness we use our lives for. In the faithfulness we show Christ, even though we've never physically seen Him. In the gentleness we have with those we don't agree with. And in the self-control we have to put His will above our own fleshly desires. When the world sees these qualities in us, they will notice that we are different and know that it is because of Jesus. When our lives reflect Jesus' light, we can hopefully help sew His seed in their hearts as well.
Throughout the next nine weeks, I will be writing about each "good fruit" individually, but for this intro post, I wanted to go through each of them and see what the original Greek word was that Paul used when writing to the Galatians. Bible translators do a good job of translating the original to English, but sometimes it's really interesting to see what exactly that Greek word meant back then. It can give a whole new insight into what Paul was meaning when he wrote it.
love // agape- the highest form of love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God
joy // chara- feeling of inner gladness, delight, or rejoicing
peace // eirene- security, prosperity, safety; the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot
patience // makrothumia- patience, longsuffering
kindness // chrestotes- goodness of heart, graciousness, kindness
goodness // agathosune- to do good; intrinsic goodness, especially as a personal quality
faithfulness // pistis- good faith, trust, reliability
gentleness // prautes- meekness, mildness, temperate; displaying the right blend of force and reserve
self-control // enkrateia- self-governance, self-control, self-mastery
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