How will people remember you? - hateful, contentious, jealous, ambitious, drunken?
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| English: Sterzing, the Holy Spirit church frescos, on the northern wall, representing the Passion of Christ. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Holy Spirit regenerates us, then indwells us and begins the process of sanctification, of making us more like Christ. He is working within us, convicting us of sin, strengthening our desire to live for God, showing us our faults. As the process continues, these internal changes eventually manifest themselves in outward fruit. And since this external fruit comes about as a result of the work of the Spirit, we call it the fruit of the Spirit.
We human beings often find ourselves attracted to unusual, extraordinary, and spectacular things. In our Christian lives, this tendency often manifests itself in terms of a keener interest in the gifts of the Spirit than in the fruit of the Spirit. However, the gifts that the Spirit gives us are not the greatest manifestation of progress in the things of God. Rather, it is the fruit of the Spirit, and it is by the fruit we have borne that we will be evaluated at the ends of our lives.
In Galatians 5, Paul charges believers to “walk in the Spirit” so as not to fulfill the “lust of the flesh.” By flesh, Paul does not mean the physical body; he is referring to our corrupt natures. The Spirit and the flesh are at enmity with one another, Paul says, tugging the believer one way, then another. He then lists the sorts of behaviors that are typical of someone who is living for the flesh, and he says that those who “practice” such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. This does not mean that falling into one of these sins one time precludes salvation.
Paul is saying that if one of these sins defines your lifestyle, if it is your practice, that is an indication you are still unregenerate.
On the other hand, the Spirit produces certain behaviors as well. They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. One in whom the Spirit is present will be exhibiting these traits in greater and greater measure.
And not just some of them—all of these fruits are to be present in all believers. If you see them in yourself, you have a good indication that the Spirit has regenerated you and is living within you.
These fruits are the produce of growth in holiness. The Spirit seeks to create them within us, for these are the things that God wants from us, the things in which He delights. We are called to work with the Spirit to make the cultivation of these fruits our priority.
What will be your epitaph? How will people remember you? Will they think of one who was hateful, contentious, jealous, ambitious, drunken? Or will they recall a Christ-like person, one who demonstrated the fruit of righteousness in all his ways? Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit.
Author: (2000). Tabletalk Magazine, January 2000: “Am I Really Free?”, 39.
