When getting my insurance license, I had to pass two tests on the same day. I told myself that failing the tests was not an option. Since I took failure off the table,  I had to study even when I didn’t feel like it. I had to pay close attention in class even when I was tired. I gave up lesser things like tv shows in order to reach the goal of passing my tests.

But I had a coworker who was studying at the same time. She told me she was nervous but would feel okay with herself if she only passed one half of the test. She, as a result, had not determined to conquer. And in the end, she failed one half and I passed both halves.

Our Christian walk is similar. We have a list of characteristics to focus on in order to guide us in difficult situations. We need to memorize the list of characteristics that we are supposed to follow. Otherwise, we strand ourselves by focusing on the bad behaviors.

One more example, this week I sent a text message that did not send. I decided it wasn’t important so I was going to delete it rather than resend it. I repeated over and over in my head, “do not resend, do not resend.” What button did I click? “Resend.” That word was stuck in my head. Instead, I should have been reminding myself of what I wanted to do rather than focus my energy on what not to do.

If we get lost in the list from the previous post, we will flounder because rather than striving for what we should do, we beat ourselves up over what we should not do.

Here’s the list of the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians chapter five:

1.   Love – This should not be a surprise that love is first on the list. Our love for people comes from our love for God. We love people in order to show them God’s love.

2.   Joy – Believers are to rejoice in all circumstances, trusting that God is working all for His glory. This is not the same as happiness. I am happy with an icee but sad when it’s gone. However, I’m joyful when we get bad news because I know God is still in control.

3.   Peace – Christ brought ultimate peace through the cross because we are once and for all rescued from slavery to sin.

4.   Patience – Do not lose your cool no matter how people are responding to you. Here’s an important lesson to learn young: You are responsible for you. No one else.

5.   Kindness/goodness – God’s kindness  is shown when he provided salvation for us lowly sinners.

6.   Faithfulness – We are to be loyal and dependable. People should be able to  count on us to fulfill our responsibilities.

7.   Gentleness – This is especially important when we correct sin in others’ lives.

8.   Self-control – We need to be able to restrain ourselves unlike those dominated by fleshly desires. Another word for this is discipline.

 The Spirit produces fruit that the law cannot create. Don’t forget doing these good things doesn’t save you. It only helps us remember daily how to live for God rather than for people.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9J

In our youth group, Kevin has been emphasizing the importance of sowing and reaping. That is, if we practice (sow) laziness in our lives, we get the result (reaping) of failure or disappointment. For example, if we are lazy and don’t study for a test, we don’t pass. If we stop trying in school and keep failing tests, we don’t get to graduate to the next grade.

When I am diligent and care for my plants, they sprout flowers and vegetables. But when I go a weekend without watering them, they wilt and die.

In our walk with God, reaping spiritual fruit is not a magical event. They don’t just appear one day. They are a result of time spent in the Word, praying, and practicing what we believe.

But if we’re not diligent, if we decide to give in and live for the glory of ourselves, we reap bad fruit.

Galatians chapter 5 kicks off the discussion of spiritual fruit. Before we can look at the good fruit, we first take a look at the bad fruit.

16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity,promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Verse 16 tells us that if we want to conquer the flesh, we must continually yield to the Holy Spirit. Freedom from the flesh is not attainable by our own human strength. It is a result of constant obedience and dependence on the Holy Spirit. We’re told to “walk.” This means it’s a day-to-day activity. We are daily in a battle and we are not immune to the desires of the flesh.

Verse 19 starts a long list of “do not”s.

1.   Sexual immorality/moral impurity/promiscuity – There is not a sharp distinction between any of these terms. They all involve a lack of restraint. Some examples are pornography, sex before marriage, sex outside of marriage, and lust.

2.   Idolatry/sorcery – This focuses on refusing to worship the one true God. It’s a failure to praise God and thank Him for His goodness. It doesn’t mean you have a wooden statue you bow down to. Instead, you turn your trust away from God and to another source. There are several examples that are dangerous entry grounds in this category such as believing horoscopes, magic, an ouji boards.

3.   Hatreds/strife/jealousy/outbursts of anger/selfish ambitions/dissentions/factions/envy/ drunkenness/carousing/anything similar – These are all social sins that disrupt community life. They have the ability to divide people when instead we are to unite people with the Gospel. A couple of the main points in this category are outbursts of anger that leave people shaking in its path. Jealousy is  big one. It happens when you are not satisfied with the gifts that God has given you. You actually desire to have a gift that God has given someone else and you begin to hate what you can do. This list is not exclusive. It includes anything like wild parties.

This is a sobering list. Why does Paul mention these sins? Verse 21 tells us that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Take some time this weekend to seriously consider what aspects of your life you need to wage war against the flesh in. And join the blog next week as we rejoice over the Fruit of the Spirit that we can also reap.

Read the next post in this series:http://wp.me/p2xHae-9F

Now that we’ve spent time reflecting on our soil, we need to introduce the idea of fruit. Fruit implies work. We need to be certain that we don’t mess up our theology here. We do not have a works-based salvation (that is, we can never be “good enough” to be saved). Instead, we have a faith-based salvation.

Our faith and our works, though not interchangeable, work together for the glory of God. In chapter two of his book, James says that he will show you his faith from his works. This means that his belief in God is the motivating factor behind his actions.

But we will encounter people who believe that their works will save them. I once worked with a lady who did not call herself a Christian, even though she believed God existed. One day, I had the opportunity to ask her what she believed about God. Here’s what she told me.

“Renae, my God is a loving, compassionate God. He understands that I’m doing my very best and he gives me credit for my effort. My God would never tell people that they have to spend eternity in hell. That’s not fair.” I asked her if her God is just. She answered yes. I asked her, “Then how can He set a standard and yet not expect people to live up to it?” She had no answer. We kept talking a few minutes before I said, “I think I have a pretty good picture of your God – then what about Jesus? Who was He?” She got silent and looked me in the eyes. “I haven’t decided.” I responded, “Until you decide who Jesus is, the rest doesn’t matter.”

Before Paul discusses the Fruit of the Spirit in chapter five, he talks about “other Gospels” being spread in culture. The sad conversation with my coworker is one such example. Read Galatians 2:21:

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Just like my coworker, people are going to tell you that they are “good enough” to get to heaven. That God doesn’t care about the actions as long as the intent is good. FALSE. We can never work our way to heaven. God doesn’t love you because you do your chores without complaining or because you let your little brother play with you. God loves you. Period.

The law refers to the 10 Commandments – one of the best known lists of do’s and do not’s. God does not weigh our good against our bad. Christ died because our good deeds are like filthy rags to Him.

Why then do we have the law? Read on in Galations 3: 24-26:

The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,  for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

The law is a guiding system, a constant reminder to check where our priorities are.

I bring this point up now so that you do not grossly misunderstand the purpose of the fruit of the spirit. We do not have these characteristics so that God will love us, let us into heaven, or pat us on the back. We live out the fruit of the spirit so that we can always focus our mind on honoring God and giving Him the glory.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9z

Phew! This is the last look at our soil, if you’ve missed the first two, catch up here.

SOIL NUMBER THREE:

vs. 8: Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.

vs. 23: But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”

When I really want a plant to live and flower, I work hard from the beginning. I throw aside the old soil and till up fresh, fertile soil. I work diligently for them, building trellaces to grow up and water them properly.

This is how our hearts should be when it comes to things of God. It sounds hard to “till our hearts and minds” but that’s exactly what Scripture calls us to do. This looks pretty similar for all of us. Eliminate the distractions like phones and televisions. Get alone with God regularly and frequently.

THE CALL TO ACTION

vs. 9: Anyone who has ears should listen!

This is where the fruit of the Spirit begins. With a heart that is ready for God to speak, feet eager to move where He leads, and a flesh willing to obey.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9q

So we just finished talking about soil number one: the hard path. Now we keep plowing ahead (pun intended) into the next category of dirt. Remember, we can’t produce the Fruit of the Spirit unless we start with the right soil.

SOIL NUMBER TWO:

vs. 5-7: Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.  But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered.  Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

vs. 20-22: And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.  Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

There’s a middle ground for soil. It’s referred to as the rocky ground. If you visited us at our apartment, you would think that our grass is green. But if you examined it closely, you would realize that the ground cover is about 90% weeds. Yes, some grass grows, but most is killed by the weeds because there is only so much sun, water, and soil space to go around.

I’m afraid this category describes many Christians today. We know that Christ rescued us; we responded with joy and enthusiasm. But now that time has passed, the Bible feels boring and irrelevant so we stop reading it. We want to love Scripture but if we don’t pass the test tomorrow we’ll be in trouble so we study for school instead. We want to tell our friends about the love of Christ but we’re afraid that they’ll make fun of us so we stay silent instead.

Eventually, the things of this world take over until we are consumed with thoughts for them. The truth that once grew is killed by the weeds of worry and selfishness.

Growing up, I thought my heart could only be described as either the path, the rocky soil, or the fertile soil. On the whole, I think I have fertile soil. When I read and hear Scripture, I truly have a desire to implement the truths in my life. But I can feel the effects of this rocky soil trickling in.

I know I need to pray, read the Bible, and memorize Scripture. But I can never master all three at once. In the winter, I was fervently memorizing passages of Scripture but not spending as much time in prayer. Now, I have slacked off on passage memorization and yet have once again been strengthening my prayer life.

We need to constantly be looking for areas in our spiritual life that are becoming bogged down with the weeds of this world and work to till them up so that we can maintain a right relationship with God.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9h