13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. – Galatians 5:13-26
I have been studying on the subject of the Holy Spirit in recent weeks and lately came to the aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. I have come to realize that it is all about the Holy Spirit bringing His nature and character into our lives as believers, affecting our way of life, our day-to-day walk and changing our personality into a semblance of God’s character.
To be honest with you, there is no way we can exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our natural selves. We cannot live like God prescribed as natural human beings. Our flesh, the sinful – ‘Adamic’- nature poses the greatest threat to our being true children of God. Galatians 5:17 above says ‘the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh…’
And that is our weak spot, the point of failure for many Christians, right there. Many believers live their lives in the power of the flesh and not in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are largely carnal otherwise flesh ruled.
The fruit of the Spirit is the reflection of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but for this to be a reality, we need to make a switch in our way of living to the Spirit controlled mode and stay in that mode on a consistent basis. Check out the fruit of the Spirit and constituent attributes; Love, Joy, Peace, Long-Suffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Let us take a closer look at love – which is the chief character; The Spirit inspired kind of love is not talking about ‘loving’ someone who has been nice to us, or the mere giving of gifts to close friends or other obviously common and convenient shows – although there is nothing wrong in doing these.
The love of God is supernatural. It is popularly referred to as Agape in the Greek language. It defies definition, it goes beyond human comprehension, this is exemplified by dying for the unlovable and unworthy. It is the character of God that drove Jesus to leave His place in Heaven. He took on the body of a man, lived and died for the service of mankind. The real love of God can only be exhibited by the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was there to help Jesus all the way. Jesus could not do without the partnership of the Holy Spirit. Human beings are way too selfish to exhibit the Agape love of God on their own. We need to die to self and embrace the ways and leading of the Spirit of God for us to be the true light he has called us to be.
The Christian witness will not be effective when we make our efforts in the flesh. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood and the weapons of our warfare are not Carnal. Are we doing better than the world? Do we love differently than the unbelievers?
We need a switch. We need to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to birth His true nature in us. We need to embrace the word of God and receive a revelation of the mind of God from the Holy Spirit. We need to yield ourselves to his promptings and direction and we will see the difference the Light of God shining through us can produce.
25 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. (Gal. 5:25. Message Translation)
Shallom!
‘Laolu Oyeyemi
It’s that time of the year again, when you compile your list of recipients, make plans and buy gifts for family, friends and….wait a minute…