During this month we've studied how TO change and what enables us TO change. We've discussed that Jesus paid our debt on the cross and that we owe Him our lives and sacrifice to fulfill our end of the covenant.
One thing I left out of last week's post is that is up to YOU to find out what Christ's standard for your life is. If you don't know where to start searching, Matthew Chapters 5-7 creates a fantastic overview of His standard.
But HOW are you supposed to know that YOU HAVE changed?
What are the SIGNS!?
Is there anything we can use as an indication that we have really become that new creation?
"You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." (Matthew 7:16-20 NLT)
Jesus explains in the above verse that you will know true Christians by the fruits they produce. So what fruits should a Christian be producing?
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. (Galatians 5:22, 23 AMP)
So let's focus on a these fruits individually...
The bible is clear the LOVE should be the center of the Christian life.
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7, 8 NLT)
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT)
The GREATEST of these is LOVE.
This means that our every action should be motivated by LOVE. This will branch out into all the other fruits. For if God is love and Jesus is the vine, all other fruits must be born of love.
When it comes to harvesting crops, you cannot expect to get something different that what you planted. Jesus illustrated that in one of the above passages. A farmer can't plant corn and grow potatoes. A Christian can't plant hate and receive love.
The rest of the fruits should reflect this love. When you share love you will receive joy and continue to share joy with others. NOTHING should be able to take your joy away. You should have something in you that makes other people wonder why you are always happy, even when things seem bad. Joy!
The Christian life should be FULL of peace. Even in the midst of trials you should have no fear of the outcome because of your faith that God will have your back. God IS love and as John writes, "perfect love expels all fear." Although I'm aware that his context was of fear or punishment I believe that this relates to understanding our peace in Christ as well.
Patience. John 16:33 guarantees that we will have struggles and Romans 8:17 states that if we are to share in Christ's glory we must also share in His sufferings. It is clear that we will have trouble and making it through this world will require patience. We have to be understanding with others as God is understanding with us as Christ tells us in Matthew 7:2, "For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged." Being patient with others is a quality of love and a fruit of His Spirit.
This quality extends to kindness which Christ teaches us simply by the golden rule. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31 NIV)
Goodness or benevolence is simply an extension of kindness in acting to care for others who can't care for themselves. This is the only acceptable form of "religion" in God's eyes. "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:27 NLT)
Faithfulness -- Faithfulness is in a sense another term for obedience. As I have explained before, we don't obey God out of fear of punishment or to avoid hell, but we obey Him because we have FAITH that His word and rule is for our best interest and we believe that His ways are better than our own. If you obey His laws out of faith, you are bearing this fruit.
Gentleness, meekness, and humility is simply the opposite of being proud or boastful. It's okay to acknowledge the gifts God has given you as long as you don't seek the praise for yourself. In all things seek the glory of God.
Lastly, self-control. Following Christ means practicing restraint from the sins that used to control you. If you say you belong to Christ, but keep turning back to the sins that separated you from God in the first place, your fruit isn't matching the Vine.
If we back up a few verses in Galatians, we can also see the type of fruit that comes from the flesh. These are the things that should not be seen in the life of a Christian.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT)
It is clear that the Spirit breed LOVE and selflessness into us while our flesh breeds only pride and selfishness. Love is the fruit we strive for. In the coming month we are diving further into the topic of love, so for now let me leave you with a scripture that describes how important love truly is...
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7 MSG)
Pray on these things this week and ask God daily to allow you to bear the fruits of the spirit. God bless you until next week...
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