Our study on the Fruit of the Spirit is now concluded. In each of the individual components of the fruit, the emphasis is not what we are capable of, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit. If we could in and of ourselves express all of the components of the fruit, then we would have no need of the Holy Spirit.
With this in mind, let us now consider some closing thoughts on the Holy Spirit to wrap up our examination of the Fruit of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is like the wind. We cannot see the wind, however, we can know of its presence by watching the leaves on the trees and the trees themselves bend and flex. We can see the effects of the wind on the water by the waves it generates. We can feel the wind on our skin. We can even measure the speed and direction of the wind, but we cannot see the wind. All we can see are the effects of the win. In the same way, all we can see of the Holy Spirit is the evidence of His work in and through the lives of those who are obedient to the Holy Spirit.
In a sense, the Fruit of the Spirit is a measure of how much a person has allowed the Holy Spirit to work in his or her life. We cannot see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. However, we can, in some sense, measure these characteristics in people. We can most certainly sense their presence in the lives of those controlled by the Holy Spirit, or at least we can know when these characteristics are absent from people.
Like the wind creating a sensation on our skin, generating waves in the water and waving the trees, the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us creates an impact on people around us that can be felt and recognized.
The question becomes, then, what impact are we having on people around us? To what extent has the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work taken root in our hearts? Although His work is never completed in our lives on this earth, we should be making progress toward perfection – toward perfect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
E. Stanley Jones in Christ and Human Suffering wrote, “When modern psychology tells us that out of the subconscious rise the really powerful instincts and forces that control life and destiny, we begin to see the necessity of religion holding this inner fortress of the subconscious if it is going to hold life at all. The area of the work of the Holy Spirit is chiefly in the subconscious. Here the Spirit takes hold of the very depths of life and cleanses it in a bath of his own pure life. Now we do good because we are good, good in the very depths of our nature because these depths are held by the Supreme Good. By an entire self-surrender we have let Him into the center of our being, now with Him holding the sources, life becomes spontaneous, natural, unstrained, victorious.”
The Fruit of the Spirit is not something which affects us only skin deep. The Holy Spirit transforms our motivations, reactions, outlook and worldview. Our motivations are often driven by selfishness. The love of money and wealth is one of the more common motivations. The love of money seeks to take from others to amass wealth unto one’s self. The Holy Spirit re-orients our motivations from selfishness to selflessness. Instead of seeking to take from others, we seek ways to give to others.
Our natural (carnal) reactions to the trials of life and mistreatment from other people are most commonly rooted in bitterness and anger, which lead to hatred and deep resentment. We can become so bitter about events in life that we resent life itself. Mistreatment by others piles up after while, creating such anger that we resent particular people and lash out in hatred at even the smallest, most trivial thing. The work of the Holy Spirit transforms our reactions that are rooted from deep within and gives us patience, self-control, gentleness and love. With help from the Holy Spirit, we can endure difficult times and love our enemies.
Our outlook on life can sometimes change multiple times a day. When things are going well, our outlook is positive. When things are not going well, our outlook turns negative and can even slump into self-pity. This includes bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide … or acting on thoughts of suicide. Such a negative outlook is, believe or not, narrow and closed-minded. It looks only a short ways into the future and is incapable of seeing anything that may lie ahead. It is an outlook which gives the Lord little latitude in our lives and puts Him on a short leash. If He does not do something in the next 20 minutes, then He must not love us or care for us, and we must dismiss Him entirely. Without the Lord, we become hopeless and utterly helpless, setting us up for depression and suicide. The Holy Spirit expands our outlook to help us see the possibilities the Lord may have for us down the road. The Lord does not always act instantaneously. Lazarus was dead for several days before Jesus finally came. It may be that we are not to become dependent upon Him such as to enable behavior that demands and expects an immediate response, or it may be that the Lord intends to show us and the world His glory through a delayed response. Our outlook is not necessarily positive all the time under the power of the Holy Spirit. Steadiness and patience are words that come to mind to illustrate the type of faithfulness the Holy Spirit would have us exercise in our lives. Instead of immediately writing the Lord off if difficulties are not addressed within our time frame, our outlook is expanded to consider the possibility that a particular negative experience is a stepping stone to something better.
Worldviews are informed and established by a variety of influences. How we were raised, the culture we are exposed to, education, politics and significant events in our lives all help to shape our worldview. Worldviews have a tendency to be limited to what the world can do for us and how we can use the world to climb the ladder of success. Worldviews include racism, superiority of socio-economic classes and attitudes toward consumption of earth’s natural resources, all of which are rooted in the carnal nature, which includes selfishness and hatred. The Holy Spirit’s transforming work deep within us cleanses our worldview to create a passionate concern for souls and to see people from an eternal perspective. Instead of seeing a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, etc. and classifying them into some stereotypical role in society, we first see the person as one who needs to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ, first and foremost.
When our motivations, reactions, outlook and worldview are rooted in and centered around the Holy Spirit, the Fruit of the Spirit which people can see and measure in our lives becomes a channel of the Lord’s grace, mercy and love and point others to the glory of the Lord. Indeed, when we are selfless, loving toward our enemies and those who despitefully use us, steadily patient and concerned for the salvation of lost souls, we become bright, shiny billboards pointing others to the Lord’s glory. We become an oasis in a desert, a blessing to others, and through our lives the Lord’s grace, mercy and love for the world become real in their hearts.
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