Fruit of the Spirit or the Flesh?

I think if you’re a follower of Jesus, you would readily agreed that you would like to see the fruit of the spirit active in your life. Who wouldn’t want to be more patient, more loving and kind, and demonstrate more grace to the people that you care about? The key is that we should be demonstrating these qualities even to the people that we don’t care about. That is the kicker; that is where the real challenge is.

Jesus always knew who was on His side and who wasn’t. He never ridiculed anyone; He demonstrated patience and grace everywhere He went. The only time we ever see Him angry is in the temple when He saw moneychangers doing business there, making it a den of iniquity marketing things there. That was a righteous indignation, a holy anger that He displayed.

If we’re honest, most of us live in our flesh and let our emotions rule and reign. How are we representing Him when we do that? If the fruit of the spirit is ever to be demonstrated in our lives, He’s going to have to crush our flesh. We can’t be so quick to take offense. We have to give up our right to be right and be willing to listen more and speak less.

Think of the scene with the woman caught in adultery who was brought before Him. He didn’t attack her for her shameful behavior. He didn’t ridicule her accusers and He certainly could have. No, He quietly drew in the sand and we’ll never know exactly what it was that He wrote. He listened to the accusations and remained silent. However, whatever He wrote certainly made her accusers fall away one by one. He spoke to her in such a way that left her dignity intact and her life forever changed. "For God to work in the fruit of the Spirit, He has to work out the fruit of the flash", according to Trey Dixon of True North.

This is an example that we should follow. We should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. This is how the fruit of the spirit is demonstrated. Don’t you want to be fruitful and multiply the grace in your life? Follow His example.