The "Fruit of the Spirit" is produced by the Holy Spirit not by some natural activity that we deign. The Apostle Paul declares us to be "more than conquerors," in Romans.
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8:37 KJV)"
In the Book of Revelation, John tells us that we are overcomers and rewarded with a blessing from God!! There are seven churches in chapters 2-3, these particular churches were chosen by the Holy Spirit to teach us. One of the things we learn is that under stressful circumstances we can still "hear what the Spirit is saying" and when we do, we can overcome!! Please notice the divine order of the "Fruit of the Spirit." in Galatians.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23 KJV). If you read the list slowly and repeatedly you will begin see that it's a staircase that leads us up and over the flesh. We start with love, the foundation of all things Christian!! We must "believe the love", (1 John 4:16) we must believe that God loves us regardless of what kind of day we are experiencing!! This confidence helps us walk in love in every area of our life. Love gives birth to "Joy" which is our strength! (Nehemiah 2:10) It is our strength in God that gives us "Peace", which means to make us whole, with nothing missing in our lives and that propels us deeper into the Spirit of God!! The next fruit we bear is long suffering or backing off to give our friends in Christ time to grow in God. As we seek the filling of the Holy Spirit we continue bearing fruit and next in this powerful journey is gentleness. David said God's gentleness made him great and King David was a great man that we all look up to. As we continue to bear fruit "goodness" is manifested next. We will find ourselves being good to "all men." It's amazing but faith is listed as a "fruit of the Spirit." This explains why it's so hard to believe God for miracles without doubting because we must bear this fruit as a result of the Holy Spirit!! One of the hardest things you will ever do is trust God when you have nothing or no one to lean on. Meekness may rhyme with weakness but it's anything but weakness. It is the power of wisdom controlling us which allows us to bear the spiritual fruit of "temperance" or self-control. If we can't control ourselves then we can't control anything in our life!! A life out of control will inevitably self-destruct but God's Will for us is to bear the "Fruit of the Spirit" so that we can grow into powerhouses for the Kingdom of God!!! We must ask the Holy Spirit to fill us to overflowing so we can bring forth fruit that changes our lives forever.
I Believe,
Scott L. Boatner
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