Devotionals

Fruits of the Spirit

Introduction

Today I want to share with you a passage of the bible that can help us to see what virtues we can have in our lives that will help us to shine God's light in every situation. These virtues are known as fruits of the spirit. In other words, they are the traits and qualities we possess when our lives our focused on Jesus and the Holy Spirit inside us. These "fruits" are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Before I go any farther, I do want to preface this by mentioning that I helped teach a serious for kid ministry at my church on the fruits of the spirit. There was a video we watched every week to help the kids remember the "fruits", and let me tell you this: it's impossible to forget. Even now, months after the series, a fellow kids leader will come up to me and we'll start singing the song whenever someone mentions the fruits of the spirit. Just thought I'd warn you if you choose to watch the video. It's really catchy. With that out of the way, let's get started!

While the specific verses that mention the fruits of the spirit are Galatians 5:22-23, the conversation starts at Galatians 5:16. That verse begins to describe what it is like to live according to your sinful nature and later on introduces what qualities you start to produce once you allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life. "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" First, let's talk about love.

While some of the fruits of the spirit are lesser known, love is one of the most obvious. The bible shows us over and over again what love should look like: helping those who wrong us, not holding grudges, etc. There are many ways we can show love to others in our everyday lives, but one good way is to look past flaws. If someone is being annoying, try extra hard to be kind to them. That's love.

Next, the bible talks about joy. The first thing I want to mention is that joy is different than happiness because it is like happiness times two. I think joy comes from focusing on the blessings in our lives instead of the things that tend to bring us down. But how can we use joy to shine God's light? If someone asks why you're so happy, explain to them that life is going good because God has blessed you. Sure, things could be better but they could also be worse. Use joy as an opportunity to praise God.

Another "fruit" that we should develop is peace. Peace is the lack of disturbances, whether physical or mental. If you're like me, you may be at peace when school ends and you get to relax for the summer. While it may not seem as obvious as the other traits, peace can be used for God's glory. One way you can have peace is to let go any grudges or angry feelings you have towards someone. Allow God to change your heart and give you peace.

Then there's patience, one of my favorites. When I taught this to my group of kids on Sunday morning, they demonstrated the exact opposite of patience. Why is patience so hard? Our human nature wants us to take advantage of things at the earliest possible time, and it doesn't help that we live in a fast-paced society with instant gratification. Still, we can shine God's light using patience in just about any situation. One way could be to go that extra mile and be patient with that one person who gets on your nerves, whether it's a sibling, parent, child, adult, classmate, etc. I know it's harder than it seems, but by showing patience, we are helping others to see that we are different because of the Holy Spirit inside us.

Kindness is the next fruit of the spirit, and it includes more than just being nice. When you demonstrate kindness, you're showing people that you show concern for the feelings and truly care about them. It's more than just a forced smile. So how do we embody this trait in order to shine God's light? One way could be to branch out in your relationships. Go the extra mile and check up on people to see how they're doing. If someone comes to you with an overwhelming amount of problems, don't tune them out. Really listen and see if there's anyway you can help. God may have put you in that person's life for a reason and vice versa.

Another fruit of the spirit is goodness, which is the quality of being good or morally excellent. So how we do use goodness to impact the lives of others through small, everyday interactions? We can help people to choose to focus on Jesus' truths instead of Satan's lies. For example, if a friend is feeling discouraged or having a bad day, remind them that things will get better, there is hope, and to hold on to their faith. Goodness also includes choosing to do the right thing even when everyone else is doing the wrong thing.

Our next fruit of the spirit is faithfulness. Reliability, loyalty, and consistency are key ingredients of faithfulness, and we see a lot of this in the bible between God and His people. Even when they think He's forgotten them, He rescues them from whatever mess they've gotten themselves into. We can demonstrate faithfulness to others by keeping commitments we make, whether it's a plan to go out to eat or promising to be faithful to a significant other in a relationship. Faithfulness helps others to see that we are willing to stick with people through the good and the bad, which is a key to building lasting friendships.

Gentleness. That's the second to last fruit of the spirit, and it actually means to be noble and chivalrous. Surprising, right? Gentleness has nothing to do with being gentle, but it does have everything to do with being humble to others. It's different than kindness because it involves chivalry, which is a combination of traits (courage, honor, justice, and a readiness to help the weak). Simple ways you can show gentleness would be to hold the door open for someone or stand up for someone who is being treated unfairly. Help those in need whenever you can and be willing to stand up for what you believe in.

Self-control is the last fruit of the spirit. This one is pretty easy to understand; having control of oneself. Some people have really good self-control, others not so much. Either way, self-control can be used to glorify God. But how? Let's say you get a lot of money for your birthday and you want to spend it all on expensive food, clothes, etc. It's okay to indulge every once and a while, but don't go overboard with it. Having self-control shows others that we think about something bigger than ourselves.

That's it for this devotional. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you can see that it's the little things that can make a difference. Start with one trait you may struggle with constantly. For me, it's patience with my little brother. I can have patience with every other kid in the world except for him. Whatever it is, try to really embody the fruits of the spirit. People may not notice the change immediately, but at least you will know that you're working to become a better example of God's love for us. Have a great day!