Fruit of the Spirit
Fruit of the Spirit. (Galations 5 22:23)
Even though they had spiritual gifts they were not mature Christians.
Maturity comes from showing the fruit of the spirit.
To be an effective Christian you need to show the fruit of the spirit when you are using the gifts of the spirit.
They go together.
Here is an example of what the fruits of the spirit might be if you went to visit a person in hospital
· Love by visiting the person
· Joy by cheering them up
· Peace by calming them down
· Patience by listening to details of their treatment
· Kindness by taking them some grapes
· Goodness by offering to look after their children
· Faithfulness by visiting them regularly
· Gentleness by showing an understanding of their illness
· Self-control by not eating the grapes
When you see a believer who is walking in the spirit you will see all 9 of these parts of the fruit together.
Things that might be stopping you from being full of spirit might include
· Jealousy which is stopping you loving others
· Being nasty to someone and taking away their joy
· Arguing aggressively with someone which is taking away their peace
· Being impatient with someone close to you which is stopping you showing patience
· Gossiping about others which is stopping you being kind
· Ignoring a friend when they need you and not showing faithfulness
· Having a temper which is stopping you showing self control
How the Gifts were splitting the Corinthian church
Instead of building up and unifying the Corinthian church, the issue of spiritual gifts was splitting it.
Spiritual gifts had become symbols of spiritual power, causing rivalries because some people thought they were more “spiritual” than others because of their gifts.
This was a terrible misuse of spiritual gifts because their purpose is always to help the church function more effectively, not to divide it.
We can be divisive if we insist on using our gifts our own way without being sensitive to others.
We must never use our gifts as a means of manipulating others or serving our own self-interest.
What should we as Christians do?
Be discerning about who you listen to.
Anyone can claim to speak for God, and the world is full of false teachers.
Paul gives us a test to help us discern whether or not a messenger is really from God:
Does the person confess Christ as Lord?
Don’t naively accept the words of all who claim to speak for God.
Case 1.
A woman met with her pastor and said that she was leaving the church to become a medium.
The pastor told her that it was a wrong decision.
The woman said “No, I tell the spirits that Jesus is my master, and they agree with me.”
The pastor said “Okay, now go to the spirits and tell them that Jesus is your Lord.”
The woman went and spoke to the spirits and said Jesus was her Lord and that Jesus was Lord.
She never heard from the spirits again.
The woman returned to the church.
Case 2.
A person attended a local church and had been a member of the congregation for many years. We will call her Pauline.
Another woman claimed to have spiritual gifts and would pray for other members of the congregation.
One Sunday the woman approached Pauline and asked her if she could lay hands on her and pray for her.
Pauline refused to let her, and the woman went away quite put out.
Pauline said that she felt unable to let this person touch her.
She discerned that this was the wrong thing for her at that time and that this was the wrong person to allow to touch her.
Every believer who has the Holy Spirit can have a Gift.
God creates a unique place in the body for every believer.
Gifts and ministries may overlap, but each believer has a specialized, God-designed role.
Paul wrote in Romans, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”
No matter what gift(s) a person has, all spiritual gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit decides which gifts each believer should have.
We are responsible to use and sharpen our gifts, but we can take no credit for what God has freely given us.
As you seek to identify and utilize the gifts God has given you, make loving God and loving fellow Christians your highest motives.