Journal Entry ~ 09/12/19

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit of the Spirit is the supernatural outcome of being filled with the Spirit and is the living proof that the Spirit of God dwells in us.  We know He is alive in us when we see this fruit in our lives happen in such a way that surprises even us - when we have joy in a difficult trial, when we have peace in a heart-breaking decision, when we love the difficult person in our lives, when we show kindness in the chaos. 

But there is a flip side to knowing the fruit, or the outcome, of the Spirit.  When it is absent from our life - when we're struggling to demonstrate the fruit, it should be a huge red flag to us that we have quenched or grieved the Spirit. Pay attention to your actions - it can demonstrate the activity of the Spirit in your life. 

We are filled with the Spirit as soon as we accept Jesus as our Savior. That means all this fruit is in you in the same capacity as it exists in Jesus. Think about that - the same love, peace, kindness that is in Jesus, is in you. The problem is we can stifle the Spirit...and when He is quiet, it is evident in our actions.  It is on those days we struggle to show love or patience, we feel no joy, we are not kind or gentle, and our faith is small. When we find ourselves in one of those days, we must get alone with Him and get the scriptures open. There is something in our hearts that He needs to reveal to us. 

Perhaps we are quenching the Spirit by not following through on something He is calling us to do - we know the spiritual disciples of daily study of scripture, prayer, attending church and small group, but maybe we are not making Him a priority. If we choose other things over Him in our busy days, we will struggle to feel the Spirit and it will be evident in our lack of joy and peace. Or perhaps we are grieving the spirit with unconfessed sin. This is when we choose to do something we know is wrong. Both quenching and grieving the Spirit quiets His voice, and diminishes the fruits of the Spirit that are alive in us. 

We need to fall before Him daily and ask Him to reveal our sinfulness to us. We are such a prideful people, my friends, we don't even see the sin in our lives half the time. We are blind to so much of it. But if you ask, He will reveal it to you. Confess your sin and repent - confess the way you quench the Spirit, confess the way you grieve the Spirit, and as you do, the fruit will be so evident in your life that the people living life around you will see Jesus in you. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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