Live Juicy – A Fruit of the Spirit Study

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Do you desire to live a life with Christ? Are you willing to abandon your agenda and live for Christ? Can you survive outside of your comfort zone? Will you endure the pain of death?

If you seriously decide to live a life alive in Christ, you must be willing to live a life crucified to self. This is possible for us to do, only by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can live a life with Christ, and in doing so, we will begin to see God awaken the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit in us. The fruit of the Spirit will become more and more evident in our lives as we walk closer to God.

A quick word of warning before we start. We cannot study these nine fruits and then try to grade ourselves. Nor can we simply identify our weak areas and devise a plan to increase our scores by our own strength. The point of studying the fruit of the Spirit is to learn how to walk by the Spirit and then watch as God grows these virtues in us, out of our relationship with Him.

So, what is the fruit of the Spirit? I have always pictured them as a big bowl, overflowing with many different types of fruit.

But, if you look closer, the word fruit is singular. So, what we actually have is one fruit, with nine different characteristics.

The way God grows our juiciness in each of these characteristics is by giving us a desire to:

• Know God
• Love God
• Remember God
• Imitate God

These fruits affect all areas of our lives, not just our spirituality. They encompass our emotions, show up in our physical bodies, appear in our social interactions, drive our intellects, and even clock in on our vocations. The good news is that God invests in helping us develop each characteristic in every area of our lives.

Over the next ten weeks, we will look at how knowing God, loving God, remembering God, and imitating God will yield a juicy harvest in our hearts as we grow more like Christ each day.

So, WHAT is the fruit of the Spirit anyway? It is the supernatural outcome of being filled with the Spirit and living proof that the Spirit of God is in us. We will recognize this by displaying these characteristics in our lives:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self-Control

Next week we will look at what it means to grow more like Christ in the area of love.

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the Fruit of the Spirit as evidence of a life lived alive with you. I want to cultivate a place for each of these virtues in every area of my life. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to grow more like you each day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

For a more in-depth study of the fruit of the Spirit, I recommend and am reading myself, Living Beyond Yourself, by Beth Moore

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