Galatians [5:22] “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
The verse says that these things are the fruit of the Spirit. As the Spirit comes to dwell within us, the fruit that will be produced will begin to be these things. The fruit is one thing with several parts.
We don’t get to pick the ones we like and disregard others. As Christians, all of these should be a part of who we are. This is the first of a series where we will look at each one of those attributes of the Spirit in our lives.
Let’s look at Love first. Love in its purest form can only come from God. The extreme opposite of love would be pure hate. I think most people find themselves somewhere in the middle of those two realities.
What is in this middle? Close to true love might be compassion or friendship. Friendliness. Then comes friendly, but reserved. Continuing downward might be noticing flaws. Looking for flaws. Skeptical. Judgmental. False friendliness. Not noticing the person at all. Ignoring. Unforgiving. Then expecting the worst and hate. I have these drawn up on a chart. You could insert others.
Take a few minutes to examine your relationships today with Love in mind. Where on this scale are you placing that person that you meet? What can we all do today to move more toward Pure Love and further away from Hate? None of us probably thinks of ourselves as Haters, but we may be coming closer than we realized.
As we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday it is a privilege to bring to you this opportunity for self-reflection. This series of devotions are written by Harriet Bowman and allow for us to consider the work of God’s Spirit in our lives.