A FRUITFUL REWARD

The more believers continue to walk closely with the Spirit of God, the more that they become aware of the truth of God. This awareness and walk with the Spirit will be visible in the fruits that are products of a discerning life. The prize of allowing the Holy Spirit to work in the discernment process of every believer is manifested in its fruits. Who else can understand this better than the Apostle Paul.

After exhorting the believers in Galatia to live by the Spirit, Paul then turned to introducing them the fruit of the Spirit of God. Those who are discerning God’s will ought to realize the fruit that comes with the direction where God is leading. This is very important since Paul also contrasted this fruit from that which is not of the Spirit of God.

Galatians 5:22-23 affirms, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”[1] The fruit of the spirit is ever present in the lives of those who are always keeping in step with the Spirit and whose direction in life is focused on self abandonment, yielding to the power of God through his Spirit. The opposite of this are the acts from the sinful flesh which wage war against the desires of the spirit: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like.[2] Thus, Paul made a clear cut comparison in order for God’s people to understand how to know and discern what is of the Spirit of God and what is not of him.

Paul in closing his exhortation to the Galatians said, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”[3] This line is a good reminder that living by the Spirit requires a conscious and daily self surrendering to the Spirit of God, allowing him to take the lead in our journey towards knowing and understanding the direction of God in our lives. It denotes a surrender of will, and a strong conviction to follow wherever the Spirit is showing the way for us in our own journey of faith.

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[1] Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).

[2] Galatians 5:19-20 (NIV).

[3] Galatians 5:25 (NIV).