Remain

Today I want to share something that God taught me about the fruits of the Spirit! I don’t know about you, but I always read about the fruits of the Spirit and thought that they were the things I had to be. The fruits were the things I had to show people. I gave myself no excuses and if I couldn’t be those things then something was wrong with me. As you can probably imagine, that mindset was tough and not successful at all. So God corrected me by revealing this verse: “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!” Galatians 5:22-23. Did you notice the first part of that verse? “The Holy Spirit produces…” Wow! That is game changing!

After I realized that, I thought, “okay.. that's great! How do I make sure they are being produced in me?” Check out this verse, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me,” John 15:4. At that point, it all started to make sense. I am not able to be the things God has called me to be on my own. That is by God’s design. But if I remain in God, He will remain in me. That is how the fruits will be produced.

None of these characteristics mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 are things naturally found in us. That is why we often come up short, we blow the fuse, we are not able to be all of these things. God never said we had to be these things on our own. Of course, there are certain actions that we have to take, such as being intentional, but the most important action is remaining in God. If we remain in Him, He will remain in us. That means when someone wrongs you, you can go to God. He is the vine and He can produce fruit even when we are hurt or being tempted. Even when you are tempted by lustful thoughts because of the music being played around you, or tempted by a picture you accidentally scrolled across on Instagram, you can present your case to God and the Holy Spirit can give you goodness and self-control. He has everything we need. All we have to do is REMAIN. Remain in Him.

I encourage you today, to first look and see that the fruits of the spirit are exactly what you need. Next, realize that you can not produce them on your own. Then, together, let's go to God. Lets try our best to remain in Him in all situations and see the fruitfulness that can be produced in us. Are you willing? Because He is able.