The Fruit of the Spirit, Living in the Pause

The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version (NIV)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Have you ever wondered about the word “love?” Does it embrace all the facets of the idea?

The fruits of the Spirit define love:

The 12 fruits are charity (or love), joy, peace, patience, benignity (or kindness), goodness, longanimity (or long-suffering), mildness (or gentleness), faith, modesty, continency (or self-control), and chastity. (Longanimity, modesty, and chastity are the three fruits found only in the longer version of the text.)

Although the first fruit mentioned is “Love,” the fruits of the Spirit are all relational actions of love. I believe the fruit of love in actually is the fruit of the Spirit. When we embrace the idea that the Christian walk is one of love the entire Bible makes sense. The theme is love and what happens when we are the god of our own lives–getting back to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, when there is lack or a void of love. The forbidden fruit when eaten causes death–this is fruit based in self and it is rotten and decaying fruit that breeds the diseases of sin. When we eat the fruits of malice, greed, envy, lust, fear, and doubt we are consuming poison.The fruit of the Spirit is loving fruit nourishing the soul and all about imparting love.   The fruits of the Spirit redeem us from the fruits of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The fruits of the spirit cannot be contested. That means, in the face or adversity, trial, tribulation, despair, disease, poverty, anger, greed, malice, envy and the like, when we exhibit the fruit of the spirit–no one can argue in the face of love. Love is an action–our faith is dead without acting on the Word of God. The Christian walk is about extended hands touching others.

When Jesus is touches the unclean leaper, He extends his hand and heals the man. When the woman with the issue of blood touches the hem of Jesus’s garment, she is healed. When we lay hands upon one another for healing and anointing, we are touching–extending hands in the act of love–Love is not a feeling–love is and action of goodwill, healing, understanding, benevolence, again, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Undefiled religion is not under any law–it is the law of love that moves our faith into action. We are transformed through the actions of the love that is engrafted into our being though the Word and the Holy Spirit. 

James 1:27Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

There is a narrow path–few there are who find it. It is a walk, it is the Way; Truth embraces the fruits of the Spirit; Life action in the Spirit is Love. 

Love is an action–it is not a concept–we feel love but love is so much more than a feeling; the way we live our lives in love is the point. When we are truly wise we know that it is always more important to address human life than the issues we face. What is more important in your life? Having the right words or saying the right thing, getting bogged down by so many words and arguments regarding words in terms of good words, profanes words, ignorant words, stupid words and the like, or is it seeing beyond the words to the “HEART” behind it. This can be seen in peace and in conflict. If someone is loving they illustrate the incontestable place of love.  I ask Jesus to show me the narrow path, because I wish to dwell in the place of peace; His dwelling in Zion where Jesus serves me the ambrosia of Love.

I visit the place of what I term “the pause.” The pause gives me time to seek wisdom in the moment. The pause is THE PLACE OF PEACE. When I am confronted with fight or flight I STOP with great effort sometimes to enter into the pause which brings me to the fruit of the Spirit in the moment, getting in “touch” with “the Wisdom from Heaven.” The Wisdom from heaven manifests in actions of love, not head knowledge or the right words. I remember what James says in 3:17,  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 

The thing is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil reveals the darkness; the devil wishes for us to dwell there and it will always control something while poisoning the Way> The Truth> and the LIFE<. The Tree of Life will address the truth in the moment and allow us to be free in the pause while revealing wisdom in the moment. He said to them, If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? Jesus was talking about getting in touch with the wisdom needed in addressing the moment rather than submitting to a belief system or religion. Would allowing the sheep to die in the pit be wise? That is the point. The same goes for relationships. If your relationship is in the pit you need to get it out of the pit before it dies, right?

Lord, help me stay in the pause before I say a word in defense of my ego –Lord I repent of fear and selfishness. Please take this ego (self centered heart of stone) and give me a heart of flesh, a loving heart. I need you Jesus to empower me to live in the pause to find the true wisdom in the moment, in the now. Because the now is where we really live out the days we have been given.