The Fruit of the Spirit, part 1

As we get to know the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit there will be a natural by-product: fruit. What does that mean? Simply this: as you develop your relationship with God, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit living in you, there will be a marked change in your attitude toward… well, everything.
 

The Holy Spirit’s power is more than just to enable us to do the supernatural. To be sure, it does do that: However, He also empowers us for the journey, from doing what pleases the flesh, to what pleases God. This is a part of the process of “Sanctification.” And this is not an easy journey, but thankfully, it is also not a lonely journey. We have been given the Holy Spirit and we have been given the church to help us develop into the person God intends and desires us to be.
 

Let’s read Galatians 5:22-25 together, would you read it out loud – right where you are, wherever it happens to be – I’ll do the same: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” CSB. 
 

Let’s think for a moment, about “Context.” The book of Galatians is an awesomely fascinating book, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and written by the Apostle Paul. He had travelled through the region of Galatia, which is in present day Turkey, on all three of his missionary journeys. On those journeys through the area, a church had been established.
 

Many of the early converts to Christianity, in Galatia, were Jews. They had experienced the freedom that comes through relationship with Christ. Unfortunately, their freedom in Christ was being challenged by a group of people known as, Judaizers. This group of people was teaching that before anyone could experience the “full blessings” of God, one first, had to become a Jew, including circumcision, and then, they could become a Christian. The result of this teaching was a horrible church split, along Jewish and Gentile lines. The church had become, “ethnocentric,” a big word meaning: focused on race and ethnicity, and not, “Christocentric,” a big word, meaning: centered upon Christ.

Continued tomorrow