How to grow the fruit of the Spirit - two more points

FACT FOUR Fruit starts to grow in our relationship with ourselves

Sometimes we don't understand ourselves very well. " The heart is deceitful above all things," says Jeremiah, "and desperately wicked: who can know it?" We find ourselves doing things we never thought we would. We wish we could be more like other people we admire. Even the Apostle Paul had this problem: " In my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:22-24)

But we don't need to despair. When we come to faith in Jesus, God begins work on our inner identity as well, and the last three "fruit" words in Galatians 5 are talking about that. First there's faithfulness, which confusingly is translated faith in many versions. Which is it? The answer is: both!

As the Spirit works in us, our faith will grow, and we'll start being able to trust God more and more, to push out into new and bigger adventures of trust and daring all the time. But while that's happening to us, we'll become people who can be relied on too - people who stick to our commitments, stay loyal to Jesus in all circumstances, don't talk behind people's backs, stick up for the defenceless and unpopular whatever the pressure on us.

Then there's gentleness. Christians aren't supposed to be fearsome and difficult to live with! Centuries before Jesus arrived, Isaiah spoke about how great he was going to be; but he also said this:

He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. Isaiah 42:3

A "bruised reed" is one that's nearly been broken in two, but it's still hanging together because there are one or two strands of it that haven't been broken yet. It would be so easy to break it with your fingers - just as easy as snuffing out a flickering candle. But Jesus doesn't take advantage of the weakness of others, and neither should we. We'll meet lots of people who are "bruised reeds" - barely hanging on - and "smouldering wicks" - fighting to stay aflame. We need to be gentle and encourage them back into life.

The last item in the whole list is self control. Christians are people who have all the same passions, impulses and desires as everybody else in the world. They aren't weak, spineless, inoffensive creatures whom everybody can walk over! But the difference is that their passions are firmly under control, so they don't lose the plot; the Spirit gradually gives them more and more mastery of themselves.

That's why the Greek word used here is the same word you would use of a caged lion! It's just as dangerous as any other wild beast - it hasn't lost its ability to fight - but now it's shut safely away so that its wild nature doesn't do any damage to others.

FACT FIVE We grow fruit when we "walk in the Spirit"

This phrase comes from Galatians 5:25: "If we live by the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit". The New International Version translates it as "...let us keep in step with the Spirit", and that's actually what the Greek word means: marching along in perfect time with the Spirit of God.
Lots of Christians never do this. They touch base with God from time to time, but live most of their day as if he isn't there. "Walking in the Spirit" means being conscious of his presence and growing sensitive to his promptings inside us. Many centuries ago, God promised that one day he'd be giving his people the chance to do that:

A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you . . . I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. Ezekiel 36:26-27

So how do we do it? Basically, it just means giving God's Spirit freedom to do whatever he wants with us, and to lead us in all the decisions we make, moment by moment, throughout each day. The great Bible teacher John Piper says that there are five things involved: first, acknowledge that we can't do anything that's pleasing to God without the help of his Spirit; second, pray that God will " work in us what is pleasing to him", and change us from the inside out; third, trust that God will answer that prayer, and that his power will truly work in our lives; fourth, act in the way that you know is right; and fifth, thank God when you see his Spirit at work in you.

Another great Christian leader, Bill Bright, talks about "spiritual breathing" as one secret of walking in the Spirit. Breathing out means repenting straight away whenever you're aware that you've done something wrong - sorting it out with God with no delay whatsoever. Breathing in means receiving by faith all the power and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, and allowing HIm to reach parts of your life he's never reached before. If our life has a regular rhythm of "breathing in" and "breathing out", we'll gradually find ourselves trusting God's power to change us more and more.

WHERE NEXT?

Go to the review to check you understand and remember

Go to another three important Bible passages on this topic

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