THE QUALITIES OF A FRUITFUL LIFE (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

Galatians 5:22-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we learn in the final verses of Galatians, chapter 5, we have two options when it comes to the way we live.

On one hand, we can choose to satisfy the desires of the flesh, desires that result in sinful, fleshly behavior such as sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, and orgies among others. Choosing this option has a dire consequence, namely losing the opportunity to inherit the kingdom of God.

On the other hand, we have people who have chosen to believe in Jesus as Savior, and in doing so, received the Holy Spirit. We learned that the Holy Spirit opposes the flesh and sinful nature in a person and produces positive outcomes, referred to as the fruits of the Spirit in our passage for today. Through our verses, we learn the qualities of a fruitful life, one led by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Over the next three messages, we are going to take a close look at the nine fruits and their qualities. Let’s start with love, joy, and peace.

1. Love.

Could there be no more important benefit from following the Holy Spirit while striving to live like Jesus?

Jesus was all about love. It was at His core and it was a love unlike any love that had ever been put on display.

This is because the love of Jesus is often referred to as “agape” love which is a love so dedicated that it would lead a person to die for the good of another. Indeed, Jesus showed this love perfectly while crucified on the cross at Calvary. There He willingly bore the penalty for our sins, taking the full wrath of God and its suffering upon Himself so we wouldn’t have to go through it ourselves.

The Holy Spirit will always lead us to a love that is self sacrificing, a love that puts the good of others ahead of our own.

2. Joy

We just went through another Christmas holiday season and got to sing about joy to the world because the Lord had come. The call was for everyone to receive their King, the King of kings who was also the Savior of the world, the One who made the way for us to live in joy every day.

You see, by believing in Jesus, death no longer has any sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-58) as we are liberated from the grave and guaranteed eternal life, the assurance that we will inherit the kingdom of God  when we leave this world behind.

Friends, through Christ Jesus, we are victorious people and this should buoy us every single day with the strongest spirit of thanksgiving and joy, a thanksgiving and joy that no one can take from us because no one can take away our salvation.

3. Peace

We all want peace in our lives, right?

And yet, it seems so elusive in a world where divisiveness and strife seem to take center stage more often than not.

Thankfully, the scriptures give us a two verse prescription for finding peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Here we find the way to peace in what is more and more an unpeaceful world. All we need to do is to allow the Holy Spirit to develop our trust in God, trust that He can and will do what He said he can and will do, trust built upon the foundation of confidence that He can do all things.

This means He is able to handle any issues we face in our world. He is more than capable and has proven Himself over and over and over again.

So as we are dealing with life’s pressures, stresses, worries, and anxieties, we bring them all to God through prayer and petition grounded in thanksgiving. We lay our burdens down at His feet and the weight is no longer on our shoulders. We are set free to live and love and learn in life, liberated from the heavy load we once carried.

It’s in this place, a place absent of our anxiousness, that we experience true peace, a transcendent peace that can only come from God. No one else can offer a perfect peace like He can, a peace we can be blessed with each and every day.

The first qualities of a fruitful life are love, joy, and peace. Tomorrow, we’ll look at three more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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