It is impossible for you to produce the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the fruit…of the Spirit. It is not the fruit of you or anything that your flesh can create or imitate. All you can do is first recognize that the qualities of God’s Spirit are true, and then yield to Him. You are not kind – only God is kind. You have no joy – only God is joy. You have no patience – only God is patient. You have no love – only God is love. Your flesh can and will try to mimic the fruit of the Spirit. It will try to act kind, force patience, and replicate kindness. It will try to love, but the flesh’s love is only a sentimental, self-serving love. Your flesh will try to treat others with kindness in order to “produce an effect” in the other person and make them feel loved so that you can be said to be loving. The flesh will attempt to act kind or loving as to relieve itself of its own guilt, because you “should” be loving. When a truth goes from your head to your heart, you are going from a concept in your brain to the reality of what is already true in your spirit. You are moving from an idea about something to an experiential reality that you are seeing, tasting, and touching. You are moving from wanting something to be true to what is true. You are moving from “wanting to be” into “being.” You are moving from trying into having. You are moving from concept, to spirit, where it is a reality. Only in your spirit (where you have been joined to Christ’s Spirit), will you see and taste the reality of Jesus Christ and who you are in Christ. The life of God is in you. He lives in the spirit of every born-again believer. The only way to break free from the prison of your flesh is to find the Spirit. The Spirit is the life of another – Jesus Christ. |