Fruit of the Spirit 2

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Still looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, we see in Jeremiah (6:19), God speaks of the disaster which is about to come, and speaks of it as "the fruit of their plans" -- that which comes from evil scheming. So the evil in us can also come to fruition. Rotten fruit.

The early church continued this concern about how those with the Spirit develop a character like Christ's. Some of them spend much of their writing time on describing what this character is. Polycarp, for instance, in his letter to the church in Philippi, wrote that the church's leaders are to have "a wide compassion for humanity", which does not put off doing kindnesses. He, like the apostle Paul, also writes about what is not a part of this character: gossip, the undermining of others, easily believing ill of others, loose sexual behavior, empty speech, quick temper, and most especially the eagerness for money. That would be more akin to rotten fruit.

Many believers, unfortunately, forgot how deeply marred we are by sin, and saw failure to live in these 'fruit' as proof that the Spirit was not at work. This resulted in a new legalism made of a decision to obey behavioral rules rooted in law, not in a soul which grew through the Spirit's work to bear good fruit.

You don't need to turn to the Law to give rise to character in ourselves and our children. You need to turn to the Spirit, and trust that the Spirit will be working overtime to change you, working literally till Kingdom come, refashioning you so you become like Christ.

The early church understood this. They didn't go around saying they had the Holy Spirit and thus needed no human teachers. They instead took each other aside and corrected each other, and those who understood the Christian way best (especially the apostles) taught it to the others. They accepted their responsibility for spiritual growth in their fellow believers. Even the apostles were not above correction, as Paul so sharply points out in Galatians. They understood that by way of mutual education and the use of discernment, in the power of the Holy Spirit, they could grow as Christians. The evidence of growth was the fruit. The "fullness of the Spirit" is when the gifts are applied fruit-fully.

Unity is a fruit of the Spirit, found in the "one anothers" of Colossians. But it is not always immediately so. Jesus' work set father against son and mother against daughter, and the Spirit takes after Jesus' ministry. In Acts 15, even though the Jerusalem Council was being guided by the Spirit, division arose. They wrestled with the matter, done with an attitude of 'show us, Spirit!' Where there is such tension, the Spirit brings reconciliation.

 
The organism of believers known as the Christian Church is able to hold, and to benefit from, the human race's many cultures, outlooks, theologies, histories and styles. Yet the Church can only be truly 'of the whole' when it embraces and sustains the whole truth. It means not just being broad in most ways, it also means being clear about what to reject. This we learn, Friends, by being sensitive to and listening for the Holy Spirit in us and allowing the lessons in ‘fruitfulness of the spirit’ to change us. Where there are believers abounding in a harvest of good fruit, there is more harmony and peace in the body. I could use more peace and harmony, how about you?