The Holy Spirit Encourages Us
to Bear Sweet and Lasting Fruit
John 15: 16 - 17
Ephesians 5: 9
Galatians 5: 22 - 23
James 3: 17
2 Corinthian 6: 6 - 7
1 Corinthians 12: 1- 11
The fruit of the Spirit is produced by the Holy Spirit and lives in Christian hearts. The Holy Spirit doesn't build character, but rather it transforms it.
Just as God required his people in the Old Testament to give him the first and best of the harvest, we, out of gratitude for our salvation through Jesus Christ, gladly give him back what he first gave us, our faith, our praise, and the richness of our lives.
We recognize nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
The Holy Spirit gives us Love in our hearts, so that we can love God, his beautiful creation, our families, our friends, and even our enemies. Who would we be if we had only coldness in our hearts instead of love? What would be missing in our lives?
The Holy Spirits gives us Joy, so we can laugh, celebrate, and live happily in God's good creation.
The Holy Spirit gives us Peace within our own hearts, so we do not live in turmoil and conflict inside ourselves and so that we truly desire and work for peace in all of God's creation.
The Holy Spirit gives us Patience, so that we can appreciate our own growth in the Spirit as well as the growth of those around us - if every good thing happened all at once, we would be overwhelmed.
The Holy Spirit gives us Kindness, so that we have easy ways of showing our love to one another. In the early days of Christianity, kindness was the gift that showed the world that Christians were different from everyone else around them.
The Holy Spirit gives us Goodness, so that we can lives that honor God when we go down the right path.
The Holy Spirit gives us Faithfulness, so that we can stay close to God by living in his Word.
The Holy Spirit gives us Gentleness, so that we do not frighten others around us as we show them how we follow God and how we give thanks for the goodness he brings to our lives.
The Holy Spirit gives us Self-Control, so that the wonder of God's good works can be seen through us and our actions, as we overcome our own willful ways.
The Holy Spirit makes us holy as God would have us be holy, living our days filled with his goodness and grace.