The Fruit of the Holy Spirit outlines nine attributes that should be evident in the life of a true believer. These attributes include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. While it is easy to read about these characteristics and know what they mean intellectually, transforming them into part of our daily lives can be challenging. However, by understanding how to yield to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work within us, we can experience a transformation that brings us closer to God and makes us more like Jesus Christ. Learn more in the message How to Let the fruit of Holy Spirit Transform You
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So today we’re going to explore how to be transformed by the fruit of Holy Spirit. It’s good to start with where we get that term. Paul is writing to the church in Galatia when he writes Galatians 5:13-25.
Where we learn Holy Spirit Transforms us
Galatians 5:13-25 NLT …So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Can I pray?
We all love to quote the fruit of the Spirit. Most of us have artwork around our house with this verse or words from this verse. Sometimes we repeat it to ourselves hoping it will help it grow. It might. God’s word has a way for not coming back void.
Other times we speak it others to whack them over the head with truth of the scripture.
Getting mad at the ‘right things’ we can get mad at is not the fruit of the Spirit. Being able to quote the fruit of the Spirit is not the same as growing the fruit of the Spirit. Knowing right (orthodoxy) is not the fruit of the Spirit but doing right (orthopraxy) often can be. Can I try to explain the problem with the fruit better?
The problem
The biggest problem with the Fruit of Holy Spirit is something I’ve done myself. I have taught and tried to live the fruit of the Spirit as a check list to see how my spiritual life was doing. Did I have enough or did I need more:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control?
It’s not a checklist. Stop thinking of the fruit of the Spirit as a checklist for spiritual maturity. It’s not a standard that you and others need to live up to.
The fruit of the spirit are the result of putting to death the sinful nature and keeping in step with the Spirit
Look what Paul tells the church in Rome…
Romans 12:1-2 NIVUK Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Do not conform…but be transformed.
Look what it says in Ephesians…
Ephesians 4:21-23 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Do not conform…but be transformed.
Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
It’s Holy Spirit who transforms us.
It’s not something we can do in ourselves. We didn’t save ourselves, we won’t transform ourselves. We can’t finish in the flesh what was started in the Spirit (Galatians 3:3). In fact, Paul tells us in what we read at the start - Galatians 5:16
Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
And I appreciate how the NLT approaches Galatians 5:22
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
It’s Holy Spirit that produces that fruit in our lives.
It’s not my role to produce those things in me. It’s Holy Spirit that does the transformation.
That doesn’t mean I’m lazy. Far from it. Paul tells us:
1 Corinthians 15:10 NIVUK But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Did you catch that?
We have a role. He has a role. Our role is to work with the grace He provides. His role is to finish the good work He’s started.
And the good news is what Paul tells the Philippians
Philippians 1:6 NIVUK: … he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Holy Spirit empowers us to transform and He will finish the good work He’s started
And he’ll do until Jesus comes or you go home. He’ll keep working to make you more and more and more like the Son, whom the Father loves.
So the question becomes how...?
How do I keep in step with Holy Spirit? How do I let Holy Spirit transform me? What’s my role in this transformation?
Those are great question, I’m so glad you asked. Here’s a tool that can help you not conform but be transformed by Holy Spirit.
This is your role; only as you are empowered by Holy Spirit to have the grace to live out God’s will in your life.
How to let Holy Spirit TRANSFORM You Tool
TRANSFORM
T - Trust God cares for you.
R - Remember to obey what He tells you to do.
A - Agree to work as unto the Lord.
N - Never forget what He’s done.
S - Stand on His promises to you.
F - Fill your thoughts with gratitude.
O - Only let His voice hold sway.
R - Remember He will finish the good work He’s started.
M - Move to the rhythms of His grace.
And to my surprise and awe… every one of the fruits can be a result of allowing God’s grace to work in each of these areas.
T - Trust God cares for you.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you help trust He cares for you is the fruit of love.
Love ἀγάπη - love that is a decision.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 NIVUK Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
When you love God, you trust God and his perfect love casts out all fear.
We need to trust God in the day to day of everyday. When we trust him we know he cares for us and so we can cast our cares on him. The more we know his love, the more we trust his love, the more we share his love.
Think about what Jesus said with the vine and branches. When you produce fruit you’re pruned to be more fruitful as you remain in Him you produce much fruit. It is not a pleasant process.
Transformation happens when you move from order, to disorder, to re-order
It’s not an easy process. It’s tough. It’s easy to give God credit for the works of the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy.
In time, as you’ve gone from order to disorder to reorder and from order to disorder to reorder and from order to disorder to reorder and from order to disorder to reorder ….
When we go through that process, we need to stop giving God credit for the works of the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy. - John 10:10 We need to trust Him, knowing that He cares for us.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Do I know that You care? Do I cast my cares on you?
R - Remember to obey what He tells you to do
James 1:22-25 NLT But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to obey what He tells you to do is the fruit of joy
Joy - χαρά
John 15:9-11 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Have you been lacking joy? Have you been obeying what he has told you to do?
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Have I been stuck because I have missed or even refused to obey something You said?
A - Agree to work as unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:23-24 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to agree to work as unto the Lord is the fruit of Peace
Peace - εἰρήνη
Luke 10:2-7 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
Essentially when Jesus sent out his 72 disciples he said, “Find people of peace and let them serve you.”
Can you find a better example of “working as unto the Lord? Trusting God to take care of you through people. The result of trusting God is peace.
Whatever you do, when you do it as unto the Lord you’re trusting God to take care of you. You’re trusting him to fight the battles. You’re trusting him to be true to His word. You’re trusting him to work everything together for good.
When you’re trusting God’s grace to work in you as you agree to work as unto the Lord is the fruit of Peace.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit is:
Do I do all that I do like I’m working for Jesus? Do I have the peace that proves that?
N - Never forget what He’s done
Psalm 103:2-5 NLT Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things! My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to never forget what He’s done is the fruit of Patience.
Patience - μακροθυμία
Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
How do you clothe yourself with patience? You remember what He’s already done. If He did it before, He can do it again. If He did it for others, He can do it for me. Patience is not having a stiff upper lip when have to endure, it’s a solid and growing agreement that God is good and He’s in a good mood.
Revelation 12:11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
Patience grows as we understand God better through what’s he’s already done. Testimony grows patience.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Lord, what do You want me to remember about your goodness to me?
S - Stand on His promises to you.
Psalms 145:13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to stand on His promises for you is the fruit of kindness.
Kindness - χρηστότης
Romans 2:4 NLT Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
We are to clothe ourselves with kindness. How do we allow God’s grace to work in us to show kindness?
When we see His kindness towards us, we can clothe ourselves with kindness to others.
We see His kindness towards us in His promises and in His faithfulness.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Do I agree with the promises of God on my life?
F - Fill your thoughts with gratitude
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to fill your thoughts with gratitude is the fruit of goodness.
Gratitude is a game changer.
Goodness ἀγαθωσύνη
Ephesians 5:6-10 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
What pleases the Lord? Doing His will. What is His will?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything and thank him in all things, knowing that’s his will for you. - Philippians 4:6-7
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
What can I choose to feel grateful for right now?
O - Only let His voice hold sway
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to only let His voice hold sway is the fruit of faithfulness.
Faithfulness - πίστις
Luke 17:3-5 NIVUK So watch yourselves. ‘If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying “I repent,” you must forgive them.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’
What Jesus said next is really amazing.
Luke 17:6-10 NLT The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you! When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
What is he saying?
“If you want faith, be faithful. Obey what I say, even if it seems impossible.”
We need to only let his voice hold sway. When he says “go” we go. When he says “stay” we stay. When he says, “Love” we love. When he says “Trust” we trust.
Jesus said.
John 10:10 NIVUK The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
His words are life. Why do we allow other voices to drown his voice out? Holy Spirit will empower us to only listen to His voice.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Do I agree with words of life or words of death?
R - Remember He will finish the good work He’s started
Philippians 1:6 NLT And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to remember He will finish the Good work He’s started is the fruit of gentleness.
Gentleness - πραότης
Galatians 6:1NLT Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
1 Peter 3:15 NIVUK But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Gentleness is important for those inside the church and those asking us about the hope we have.
We can be gentle when we remember God is God and we’re not and that’s a good thing. When we trust him to finish the good work he’s started in us, we can trust him to finish the good work he’s started in others. Since he gently leads us, we can show gentleness to others. It’s not up to me to see people transform. That’s Holy Spirit’s job. My job is, with His help, to love. And when I love, I am gentle.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Am I confident You will finish the good work You’ve started in me… and others?
M - Move to the rhythms of His grace
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
The result of allowing God’s grace to work in you to move to the rhythms of His grace is the fruit of self control.
Self Control - ἐγκράτεια
2 Peter 1:5-8 NIVUK For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You don’t want to be ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of Jesus. The good news is that it’s Holy Spirit who works in you can add
Faith to Goodness to Knowledge to Self-control to Perseverance to Godliness to Brotherly kindness to Love.
He’s the one at work in you to make you look more and more and more like Jesus.
Jesus said “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Keeping yourself - with Holy Spirit’s help - to His yoke takes self control.
The question you can ask Holy Spirit:
Am I moving to the rhythms of His grace?
TRANSFORM
T - Trust God cares for you.
R - Remember to obey what He tells you to do
A - Agree to work as unto the Lord.
N - Never forget what He’s done.
S - Stand on His promises to you.
F - Fill your thoughts with gratitude.
O - Only let His voice hold sway.
R - Remember he will finish the good work He’s started.
M - Move to the rhythms of His grace.
It’s only with Holy Spirit’s help that we can do any of these things. He empowers us to accomplish every good work prompted by our faith. He’s the one
We have a lot of questions we can ask Holy Spirit. We’ll make space now to listen to what He says…
Do I know that You care? Do I cast my cares on you?
Have I been stuck because I have missed or even refused to obey something You said?
Do I do all that I do like I’m working for Jesus?
Lord, what do You want me to remember about your goodness to me?
Do I agree with the promises of God on my life?
What can I choose to feel grateful for right now?
Do I agree with words of life or words of death?
Am I confident You will finish the good work you’ve started in me and others?
Am I moving to the rhythms of His grace?