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Do you sometimes feel as though being a Christian in our culture today is against the law? The Apostle Paul faced the same kind of culture in ministering to Christians in Galatia—except his situation was even worse. Christians were literally persecuted, even killed, for their faith.
But he gave the Galatians a plan for living out their faith in that godless culture—a plan that could never be criticized or demonized—and a plan that would be totally effective. Let me read from Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
There is no law against the fruit of the Spirit. That’s what the Apostle is telling us. You can display these characteristics anytime, anywhere, without any impediment. No one can stop you; no one can take you to court for being:
Loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.
Since this is the fruit of the Spirit, it is only through the Spirit that this fruit can become evident in your life. However, you have to cooperate with the Spirit, and become intentional about growing this fruit.
I want to talk about practical ways to grow this fruit in your life. And the first fruit is:
#1 – Love
In 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 we see what this love—God’s love—is like:
- It is patient and kind
- It does not envy or boast
- It is not arrogant or rude
- It is not irritable or resentful
- It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth
- It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The love which is produced by God’s Spirit is an action, a decision to act in these ways, with or without the feelings. In fact, we can love people we may not even like!
So, here’s my challenge to you: Pray that God will help you to love those people you have to deal with, even those that you really don’t like. Seek to grow more of this fruit of love.