Questions About The Fruit Of The Spirit
 

When we have His Spirit in us, we are guided by His love and the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Do you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Which are the greatest in your life? Which are the least?

Dear Chosen,

It is much easier for most to speak of non-essentials. Where the rubber meets the road is in the fruit of the spirit...are they evident in our lives? If they are not, no matter how 'holy' you may look...the insides are full of dead men's bones.

To answer the question:

The one fruit most evident in my life is goodness, the least evident is self-control. Self-control is difficult for me as I am a very emotional being and sometimes my emotions rule my head instead of vica versa...but God and I are working on this.

Blessings, Rhoni

Rhoni,

Thank you for answering questions that are very difficult to answer. The answers to those questions have changed as my walk with the Lord has changed. Prayer and fasting have been the essential elements of my growth in the Lord and helped me realize the fruit of the Spirit in my life.

I began to recite and meditate on I Corinthians 13 every day. When I looked at the list of the fruit of the Spirit, I noticed that love was the first mentioned. It came to me that the reason it was first was I needed to put God first in my life for He was love. If I put Him (love) first than I would love others as He loved me.

It I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender by body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, the will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child . When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It is necessary for us to surrender our lives in order to walk more deeply with Christ and to welcome in the fullness of His Spirit. The act of surrender involves our agendas and desires, which in turn allows us to surrender to others as God's servants on earth.

God tells us He wants us to turn from our evil ways. We should not be condemning one another; we should be evaluating our own lives and then serving others with a right spirit.

When we have His Spirit in us, we are guided by His love and the fruit of the Spirit. Those are a natural progression as we grow in our relationship with our Lord through prayer.

Rhoni, Do You mind if I pm you about a book I've been reading? Portions of the book deals with healing memories. I would rather not name the book or the author in a public forum because too many on this fourm would not be able to discuss the content because this guy is an ex-upc'er. I'm curious if you read the book, and if so what are your opinion?

I was taught the Fruit of the Spirit are listed in the order of difficulty. Usually self-control is the most diffiuclt to master.

TV1a,

You may PM me about the book, but I think I know which it is.

For Bro. Chosen: the book I use to teach the Spiritual Disciplines is :Foster's book, The Spiritual Disciplines. I still have those who took the class ask me questions and say that they continue to feast on what was presented and how the practice of the disciplines has changed their lives.

You cannot fully give yourself to the practice of the spiritual disciplines and not be changed. I do agree that Love is the key. I try not to think too much about love because love makes a person vulnerable and many times I love people who don't love me, and even my enemies are not really my enemies but just people I care too much about to my own hurt. I used to say that it doesn't hurt a person to love another, but sometimes it does. Maybe it is supposed to so that the other fruits we cultivate can bring in a bountiful harvest: patience, joy, peace, longsufferring, gentleness, and meekness. I can see how this would happen.

I feel this is a subject worth discussing if we look beyond the surface and care to go inward with our studies.

Blessings, Rhoni

*bump*

:bump