Fruitful Life

Colossians 3:12-15 (HGSB) And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

The Scripture above is beautiful. It also seems like a tall order and almost impossible to live out. How do you get to the point where you can lay human emotion aside and walk out the forgiveness and gentleness of behavior it talks about? Fact is, on your own you can’t.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) 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.

When Christians speak of the work of the "Holy Spirit", they are speaking about the operations of the Spirit of God in the material world we live in, and within us. But God the Holy Spirit isn't here just to hang out, or to do a miracle for sport, or bliss someone out for an hour or so. The Spirit is there to cause things to happen in peoples' lives that bring them more in tune with God's purposes on earth. When the Spirit starts changing someone, it shows as a growth in character, a change in their way of life that is good for the people they live among. This change in character and way of life is called a 'fruit of the Spirit'.

Paul's Galatians list is both something you are and something you do. It is the Spirit giving you the character of Christ; it is treating others and relating to creation as a whole in the manner of the Kingdom of God. There are other such lists in the Epistles, and they are also relevant to any talk about the fruit of the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 13, in the midst of Paul's description of the gifts of the Spirit, there is a section on love. While not directly about 'fruit', it is about what springs from love, and it is in much the same vein. Love is the underpinning of what the Spirit is doing, the 'why' of it.

These fruit lists describe what a Christian grows into, over time. This is the way a person lives when the Spirit is being productive within. There was no word in there about being given the Midas touch for resolving all financial woes. There are no verses about crusading for a just society, though there is something about being just. These lists are completely silent about miraculous deeds or the gifts of wisdom or knowledge or discernment as signs of the Spirit's rule within a person. The lists give no special credit to official power or office or responsibility. It sounds instead like a repeated refrain from Jesus (Matthew 7:16, 20) that one knows God's followers 'by their fruits'. Or, like the apostle Paul's urgings that the Roman church bear fruit for God, or James about being full of mercy and good fruit. Or John the Baptist, or even the proverb which says that "the fruit of righteousness is a tree of life". These matters of character are the stuff which gives life-ness to life. It is holiness taking root in you. It is something you are, not just something you do or think.

When the Spirit is at home in someone, that person will start taking on the characteristics described as the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works to change Christians so they have the depth of character and faith the Bible talks about. It's not automatic or sudden. Like everything else in this broken world and its broken people, it's something that arises only in part, not completely, in this life. The Spirit never leaves "well enough" alone, but is always working for something better.