GALATIANS 5:22-23 Praying for the Fruit of the Spirit 5:22-23 BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONG SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS, AND TEMPERANCE. This little list of nine fruits makes a wonderful prayer list – nine things to pray for yourself and others. Since there are nine, one is tempted to say “fruits,” but the word is singular in the text and for good reason: The source is singular. The source is the Holy Spirit. Think of these nine attributes as descriptions of qualities that emerge in the character of a man or woman filled with the Spirit. Or think of them as the fruit of the same Spirit that moves us to pray (see Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Or think of them as the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). Or think of these nine fruit as love in all its glory. Love is the greatest of Christian virtues, “the most excellent way“ of all (I Corinthians 12:31). Dr. Kenneth Moynagh has summarized the glory of love in the fruit of the Spirit: Joy is love exulting, and peace is love at rest; Patience, love enduring in every trail and test. Gentleness, love yielding to all that is not sin, Goodness, love in actions that flow from Christ within. Faith is love’s eyes opened the living Christ to see; Meekness, love not fighting, but bowed at Calvary. Temperance, love in harness and under Christ’s control, For Christ is love in person, and love, Christ in the soul. The last line is the best of all: Think of the fruit of the Spirit as a sketch of Jesus’ character. The more we look like these fruit, the more we look like our Lord. And the more we look at our Lord, the more we will like these fruit. What is prayer but gazing at the glory of Jesus through the lens of Scripture, and becoming what we behold (see 2 Corinthians 3:7-18)? Spiritual growth comes by letting the light into our souls the way a shutter lets light into a camera. The image will be impressed on the light-sensitive heart, the picture taken, and we will begin to look like Jesus. Memorize the list, and pray daily for each of these fruit to be evident in your own life. P R A Y Lord, I want to be like Jesus. Grant that I show today, in all I think, say and do, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 14:12:02 +0000
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