What is the Fruit of The Spirit? Do All Christians Have The Fruit?
The fruit of the Spirit is singular and is not about works, but rather it’s about Christ living through us as we exude His love, kindness, joy, and peace. Consider this…..It’s not the fruit of you – it’s the fruit of Him!
[Galatians 5:22-23] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The fruit (singular) of the Holy Spirit is not just a picture of how we should exude Christ, but it is also a perfect reflection of what the Holy Spirit is like towards us.
So, yes, the Holy Spirit will produce love through you, but the Holy Spirit also loves you.
-Yes, the Holy Spirit will produce gentleness through you, but He is also gentle towards you.
-Yes, the Holy Spirit will produce patience through you, but He also has patience with you.
-Yes, the Holy Spirit will produce kindness through you, but He is also kind towards you.
Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking the fruit of the Spirit is a bunch of works and a long list of to-do’s, but the fruit is really an attitude of love that we exude as we express Christ in our daily lives. Sure, that may sometimes come out in the form of “works” but be sure that at its core it’s really more of a condition of how our heart communicates with others. So, simply walking up to a woman in tears and gently asking “are you okay” would perfectly describe the fruit of the Spirit.
As I said early the word “fruit” is not plural. Why is that important? Because it’s not a picture of works, but rather is describes an attitude of love. The Fruit is the Spirit of Christ living in us and all Christians have the fruit the moment they placed their faith in Christ. That’s not to say we perfectly exude it at all times, but it does mean it is always there…..even when you are not walking in the newness of life that you have been created in.
In summation, we shouldn’t use this verse to guilt people into doing “stuff” as proof of having His fruit, but rather this verse is about a heart change and you won’t have to force yourself to turn it on. It’s about a newness of love, kindness, joy, and peace that does NOT come from you and your efforts, but rather it comes from Him, in you, as He lives through us. Amen.
Author: Mike Cynar
Mike Cynar grew up in church and observed that countless people would go to church and then just stop. The church always referred to them as ‘fake Christians’ or ‘backsliders’ but Mike discovered the problem was deeper. The problem was the church message. The message was 90% behavior improvement and how bad you are, with a pinch of who you are in Christ, It was like every sermon was being preached to the church of Corinth. It’s in the Baptist church, Catholic, Pentecost, and most every other church. After discovering the true gospel message and how we are made right with God because of what ‘Jesus did’ (not what ‘we do’) Mike set out to free believers from behavior improvement programs and bring them back to Jesus. The Result – Jesus Without Religion was launched.
2 Comments
Wow! This message on the fruit of the spirit really opened my eyes. Thank you. Also the Jesus without religion movement is awesome. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words. We always appreciate the encouragement.