The Fruit of the Spirit

When they asked Michael Angelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said; I looked inside the marble and just took away the bits that weren’t David”. God is our master Sculptor. He wants us to become more like Jesus He wants to chip and chisel away everything that is not like Christ in us. When we were saved we received Jesus’ innocence and righteousness, but not his character. That takes time, obedience and the help of the Holy Spirit to develop

Galatians 5: ¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. ¹⁸ But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ 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.

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵ Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Jesus is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. Imagine you’re a fruit-bearing tree. As you stay close to the Holy Spirit and obey Him, you’ll bear the fruit of Jesus’ character. He’ll work in you to stir up new desires for purity and love, and a new hate for sin.

We will obediently listen to His voice that comes through the Bible and our conscience. When we’re tempted, we’ll feel His gentle warning in our heart. We must obey Him!. If we do, we’ll feel His peace and joy. If we disobey He’ll be grieved. If we sin, He will lovingly urge us to repent. We must not harden our hearts against Him. The more we keep in line with Him, the more of Him we’ll experience, and the more like Jesus we become!

Still hungry? 2 Corinthians 3:17-18- 1 Timothy 4:12