The Fruit of the Spirit  

By Litty John

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. - Galatians 5:22-23

 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:12-14

As I looked at these two verses, the Holy Spirit suddenly gave me a new thought into it...
 

The fruit of the Spirit manifests itself in our lives as we grow more and more in our relationship with the Lord. It is evident for all to see. We don't strive for it but the essence of the Trinity shines through us naturally.

But in Colossians we see that, as God's chosen people there are certain attributes that we have to clothe ourselves with. Clothing oneself is a deliberate act. You have to do it with your effort and it is essential to clothe oneself too. Hence we need to deliberately instill these aspects in our life.

As I looked at the characteristics mentioned in the above two verses, I saw a similarity in some of them. On carefully looking them through, I realized the first four that I have put in the table are common to both. I concluded that even if these characteristics do not manifest in our lives we would still have to deliberately clothe ourselves with these.

Fruit Of the Spirit (Gal 5:22     You clothe yourself (Col 3:12)

On further leading as I stared at these 4 characteristics I saw that these are possible for us to follow or rather strive towards - through the power of the Holy Spirit i.e. you can't say that "i cannot never be patient or kind to someone"

However if we look at the rest of the fruit of the Spirit which are not including in the striving towards areas, you will find that in order to truly have these 5 characteristics you need to have the Mercy and Grace of God in your life.

For example - Unlike happiness, when we talk about "joy" it is not dependant on our circumstance. As Christians, the joy of salvation is a reality in our lives no matter what situation or circumstance we are in. We need the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit to remember this at all times.

So as I look upon these characteristics, I feel we need to take some on intentionally and ask Jesus to help us reflect His love, patience, gentleness and kindness and for the rest we will ask Him for his grace and the guidance of His Holy Spirit.

 --
My life was dark until the light shone in, that light was Christ who saved me from my sin. His light that I've received I long to share, In loving deeds for people everywhere - Hess

Rules & Regulations

                                                             By Litty John

The Old Testament was full of rules and regulations. The first five books were known as the Books of Law.

When Adam and Eve committed a sin, at that time and I believe even before that itself, God knew that He would have to redeem mankind. Jesus Christ, His son, our Savior willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice to redeem mankind.

Obviously God knew that when Jesus came there would be a new covenant and He would be the truth, the way and the life. So why establish these old rules? Why wait for years to pass by before sending His son? I believe that it was God's perfect timing in which He sent His son.   It was essential that those years would have to be gone through so that we understand to what extent man could fall and how helpless we are without the grace and mercy of God. Indeed, all those years should have passed by in order to bring into complete effect, the awesomeness of the birth and the resurrection our Lord and Savior.

However, as I look at certain rules and regulations of life/churches today I wonder are there certain opinions or rules we have formed in our life/church that we cannot see beyond that. Are these rules and demarcations valid in all situations? Or do we have to look at each situation/ circumstances differently, understand it and pray about it specifically rather than blindly applying the same principle to all areas so that we can take the right decisions.

Are we so rigid in certain applications of the Scripture/law/rules that we sometimes loose the essence of love, & compassion (that is Jesus Christ himself) to see the lost return, to rush to the aid of those who are drifting away, to simply reach out..... Or are we just busy following a set pattern of law/rules?