Judged by Your Fruit: Galatians 5.16-26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5.22-23


You should have the fruit of the Spirit to use the gifts of the Spirit. This is important because the gifts empower us to do mission and ministry. Without the gifts of the Holy Spirit our outreach, our ministry, our Christian life, our work, would be fruitless. To work in the Master's vineyard we must be trained and empowered by the Master.

On the other hand, the fruit allows us to live in community with other believers (as well as non-believers). Love, gentleness, longsuffering- These are attributes that are crucial to our relationships with people. These two things must be working together to accomplish anything near success or even fulfillment in the Christian life.

• The fruit allows the discretion to properly use your gifts. Because of the Holy Spirit reminding us how we are to relate to others, we better know how to minister to them.
• The fruit helps you be sensitive to the needs of others. Gentleness, peace and self-control will allow us to recognize and appropriately respond to our friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors and even other church people.
• The fruit helps you to be gentle in your relationships. If only we could take back all the hurtful, gossipy things that we have said. If only we could be sure that we would never hurt someone with our words again. With the fruit of the Spirit working in our lives we can get closer to that ideal.

Relate to one another with...

• Love. The mission of Jesus, and all his followers, is to love. Our priority is to love those around us. Care about everyone. Be sensitive to their needs. Love them not for what they can do for you, but because they are an important child of God.
• Listening. Pay attention when someone is talking. Three things will happen when you listen. First of all, you will hear what someone else is saying. Secondly, they will know that you care about them. And finally, if you are listening you will not be saying anything stupid.
• Patience. Take your time. Not everyone is going to learn, grow and change as fast as you are. Let your friends have time to heal from hurts and to experience the love of God.
• Understanding. This is the hardest part. When you listen to the needs of others, you have to do your best to be empathetic. Put yourself in someone else's position. Remember that Jesus did this all the time. He ate with publicans and sinners. He tried to understand everyone and their needs.
• Acceptance. There is no place in the Christian faith for judgmentalism. Jesus loves everyone. Although he does not approve of everything, he does accept all kinds of people. Christianity is no place for prejudice, bigotry or racism. You are not superior to anyone.

It is completely possible that there is only one fruit of the Spirit, but that it has many attributes. The nine things that we generally have referred to as the fruit of the Spirit in a plural way may be the different aspects of the one fruit.

Either way, Christians should have all the fruit of the Spirit.

Living in the Spirit: Galatians 5.16-23

There are advantages to living in the fullness of God's Holy Spirit. And although our true motivation for Holy Spirit-fullness should be intimacy with God, there is no ignoring the fact of the benefits that are available to us as we live in the Spirit. We must be careful that we never seek the benefits of the Spirit, but rather, seek the Spirit, the Giver of the benefits.

1. If you live in the Holy Spirit, you can be free from lust (v. 16). As our lives are filled with the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit Himself, there is no room for the temptations that lead us to sin. Paul's admonition in Ephesians 5.19 is instructive here. Keep on getting filled up with the Holy Spirit.


2. When you live in the Holy Spirit, you can be free from the law (v. 18). The law was given to keep people in line with God's will. The Holy Spirit does not eliminate or replace the law, but as we live in the Spirit of Christ we see that requirements of the law become less important. We do not need guidelines to tell us to do what the Holy Spirit makes us want to do.


3. If you live in the Holy Spirit, you can be free to be fruitful (vv. 22-23). The fruit of the Spirit are those attributes that are a direct result of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person, home, church, family or workplace.

• The fruit cannot be imitated. If they are from the Holy Spirit they are pure and pervasive.


• The fruit cannot be forced. You cannot create the work of God, only God can.


• The fruit can be lost. As we sin and go our own way we can lose God's presence, the Holy Spirit and the fruit that be gives.

The Fruit-

• Love. This is not the love that our world tries to convince us is real. This love comes only from God and is completely pure and holy.
• Joy. The Holy Spirit is the only source of true joy in this world. What often seems like joy is only a cheap imitation.
• Peace. For years the world has sought peace. However, we keep engaging in war, bigotry, hatred and evil. True peace is not an outside force, but rather it is an inward work of God.
• Longsuffering. Patience reminds us to wait and love those around us, even when they disappoint or injure themselves and others.
• Kindness. There are many people who attempt to be kind to others. But human kindness grows weary when it is abused or neglected. True kindness is a fruit that lasts and comes only from the Holy Spirit.
• Goodness. The Bible teaches us that all people are sinners. This means that only those who follow God and do his will can have the fruit of goodness in their lives.
• Faithfulness. Consistency is lacking in our world. Being faithful is another product of God's working in our lives.
• Gentleness. O, that more people understood what it means to serve God in gentleness. Take care to think of others first and ask the Holy Spirit to bring true gentleness into your life.
• Self-Control. Many of the problems of this world would simply go away if we were able to control ourselves, our emotions and our lusts. This ability is given to us when we are filled with God's Spirit.