Devotionals: Fruit of the Spirit Series

*Here is the series all on one blog post.* 

I have thought of this idea. I have asked my followers and friends on Instagram what they think I should write about: What biblical topic would make a good devotional lesson? I thought that I could be the creator. Who says you can't make a devotional- even if barely anyone reads it! I think that everyone learns differently, so everyone can make a devotional about things that stand out to them. I obviously will and have used outside sources, including the Bible, to make these devotionals. I have posted all of them here on one document, but I work on making them each a separate post if you would like me to.

Some topics I felt I could write a devotional on are: biblical characters and the choices they made to make them who they were, specific biblical concepts that define Christians such as grace, faith, honesty, and so many more. I could also write a devotional on each of the parts of the fruit of the Spirit, or a separate devotional summarizing each book of the Bible (which would be about 66 devotions, not 7, and I might create that later or put it up on my YouTube channel: MaryBeau).

I know that many people have already created a devotional about the fruit of the Spirit, but because I literally got no responses from my Instagram poll, I chose this topic for now.

What is the "Fruit of the Spirit"? 

Galatians 5:22-23: What is the first thing you notice when you hear that statement? While many others would brush it off and read the next sentence into the next chapter and book, I notice something that seems to not be grammatically correct. Why does it say the FRUIT of the Spirit and then lists many different fruits? In fact, if you grew up in the church, it may have rolled off your tongue as the "fruits" of the Spirit. But, was there a mistake- a misprint? No! When you have the Fruit of the Spirit, you truly only have one fruit. But, there are indeed many different PARTS to this one fruit. As a born-again believer who shows the Fruit of the Spirit, you do not gain one or a few but not the rest, like Spiritual Gifts. No, you should show them all. Of course, some might shine in you more than others, but you should hold all of the parts of the Fruit of the Spirit. As we continue learning more about the different attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit, keep in mind that these should all be evident in your life when you have the Fruit of the Spirit, though some will be more evident than others. 

LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:1-8: This passage talks about Love. But what kind of love? Is it the love between a man and a woman? The love between two close friends? No, this is a love that everyone needs to show everyone- agape love. This love is shown towards people that the giver may think deserves it, or may think they do not deserve it. No matter who the person is, they need agape love. God is a great example of this kind of love. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God is the ultimate creator of agape love, and He is the expert in showing agape love to all people- even those who were His enemies at the time. We are called to love one another. The word "love" appears in the New Testament 203 times. But what does it mean to love one another? Again, there is a long list provided in 1 Corinthians 13. Often people find all the attributes of love difficult. For example, let's start at the beginning. Love is patient. This means, if someone is annoying or bothersome, you need to be patient with them. You need to love them by not getting aggravated or angry towards them. You need to show them that their actions cannot change the way you love them. This is a challenge for many people, especially with that one person that almost everyone has- that one person that they just can't seem to get along with. I recommend you take the time to read 1 Corinthians 13 and think about what it means to love. 

JOY 

What is joy? When most people think of the word joy, they often think of happiness or good times. Joy seems to come along when we are making great memories with people, or not in the middle of troubled times. But is that really joy? The definition of joy that I like to use goes something like this: Joy is keeping a positive attitude even when everything else seems to be going downhill because there is something better out there than all the struggles and difficulties going on. It is easy to have joy in the good times, but Christians are called to have joy in the bad times as well. "To live is Christ, to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21). This is a popular verse that I think of when I think of difficult situations. In everything, whatever is going on it seems that 'at least we are alive'. No matter what Satan or the forces of this world try to do to us- even if they do choose to kill us, we know that they cannot take away our salvation (Romans 8:38-39). But, we can remember that even in death, it is gain for us as believers. We can remember that no matter what, God has a plan for what He is doing in our lives (Romans 8:28) and it will work for His good. These positive reminders should bring us joy and should give us hope. Even if whatever you are going through is not pleasant, remember to have joy. 

PEACE

Many people know of the international peace sign- either holding up two fingers or the circle that has one line down the middle and two lines coming off of each side towards the bottom. But this is what I call "worldly peace". This is not the same as the peace that comes from knowing Christ. Worldly peace is often associated with peace amongst countries, or physical situations. But, we need peace for so much more. Many people feel like they do not have peace because of the emotional or spiritual struggles they are going through. We can have peace that comes from the Lord, instead. This peace, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), is eternal peace. We can trust that the peace we get from the Lord will last, no matter what we are going through-just like joy. 

So, we should share this peace with others. Sadly, we cannot literally give away a piece of our peace. But, we can show others where we got ours, and tell them that they can feel at peace with the Lord as well if they believe. I believe that all of these parts of the Fruit of the Spirit are tools we can use to witness to others. When people see us having absolute joy even when our days are not the best, they can question how we got it. It is like a built-in tool to get people thinking and give us opportunities to share about our heavenly Father. 

PATIENCE 

Patience. What a difficult word for me personally to deal with. This is also an attribute of love, as you would probably have noticed when we went over studying the Love Chapter a few days ago. The definition of patience according to dictionary.com is " the quality of being patient; the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, pain, etc." The dictionary goes on to define the word more clearly if that definition does not do it enough justice. We all have moments of annoyance, and I know we all deal with some kind of pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, at some point in our lives. When we are patient, we bear through it. We don't grumble or complain but we take our time and just deal with it until it passes. Kind of like getting a shot. Once the needle is in you and the physical pain starts, there is no way to make it stop no matter how much you complain or shift your weight around. In fact, you can do more damage to yourself if you do move once the needle is in you- from tensing your muscles which will just increase the pain for the next few days (speaking from experience) to shifting your weight or squirming, where the needle could bend and get stuck inside of you- making the situation direr (not speaking from experience).

 
The Lord gives us commands through the Bible not to just give us commands, but to protect us. If we listen to what He is telling us to do, and remember to stay patient, we could avoid a lot more pain we wouldn't have had to endure. Being patient does not mean being quiet, though. We can bring our situation to the Lord and ask for Him to helps us through it. We could (and SHOULD) even ask for patience in every situation.

 
If anyone would classify me as a patient person, I think I would be shocked. This is something, while I have improved a little on, I am still working on. Yet, it is just as important as the others. None of these is worth any less than the others. 

KINDNESS 

There is a memory I have in my head that I just cannot seem to shake away. I remember one summer my family went to San Diego for a conference for my dad. My mom, my siblings, and I were there simply for the vacation part of the trip. One day as my dad was in one of his meetings, mom decided to head out with us and get us some pizza for dinner. She walked into the store with the exact cash she believed was needed according to what dad told her and the standards we were used to back home. Yet, mom came out of the store in a hurry with the pizza, grabbed something real quick, and told us she would be right back again. 

When she finally returned she explained to my siblings and me the situation. See, she was just a few cents off the amount needed for the purchase. We always kept spare change in the car so she knew that she had the amount needed in the vehicle. At this point, none of us kids had a way to communicate with her on our devices because there was no internet in the car. The store employee would not let my mom leave the store without paying the full price, though. My mom, as she explained, was freaking out. She was just a mama bear wanting to feed her kids. She knew that she had the money just a few feet away, but the store would not let her get that. She was holding up the line and she did not know what to do. Yet, someone in the line was able to give her the spare change that she needed. My mom had rushed back into the store to pay back the woman who helped her in the store. My mom also brought a spare water bottle we had prepared in the cooler unless any of us got thirsty while we were out and about. The thing was the woman who gave my mom the spare change was a homeless woman who we had earlier seen digging through the trash for recyclable materials for some of that spare change.  

This woman showed real kindness and generosity. She was willing to share what little she had with a complete stranger, not knowing if she would really ever be paid back or not. The woman had saved up enough change to get herself a dinner (something that sadly does not happen daily for those who are homeless). Yet, she was willing to spare a good portion of the money that she had to my mom who had the money to pay for it if she could just go get it.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, kind means "of sympathetic or helpful nature". It takes multiple steps to be kind. First off, you often need to realize others' needs. It's hard to be kind in a specific way if there is not a need that the person needs fixing. Secondly, we need to have the capability to help fix their situation. Sometimes kindness does not solve the problem, but helps numb it or partially helps the situation. Ephesians 4:32 says "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." We, as Christians, are called to be kind to others. Tenderhearted and forgiving are both mentioned in this verse as well. Kindness can be an action left alone, but it is often partnered with something else. For example, being forgiving is being kind towards someone.

We are called to be kind towards others. What is something that you will do to show kindness towards others in this next week? 

GOODNESS 

Is there a difference between "good" and "goodness"? Can you identify it? Oftentimes when we do good things we are told we did a good job. But is that showing goodness? Is goodness all about following the rules? Goodness is probably the oddest part of the Fruit of the Spirit compared to how straightforward the rest of the attributes are. 

According to Bible Study Tools, goodness means "the deliberate preference of right or wrong" (biblestudytools.com). Goodness is understanding a clear distinction between good and bad and choosing to do what is good or what is right. This an attribute in the Fruit of the Spirit because it ties together with many of the other attributes, and it is important when becoming exactly who God made you to be. 

When we focus on what is good in our lives and chose to make the right choices, we are shining a light in the darkness that helps others see that we are different. As Christians, we are called to represent Christ, and goodness is an important part of that job. 

FAITHFULNESS 

What does it mean to be faithful? When I hear the word faithful, I immediately think of Pilgrim's Progress, in which one of the characters who helped Christian on his journey was named Faithful. Faithful was the truth-seeker who Christian first heard about when he began his expedition. Faithful made the choice to be faithful along the journey of the Christian walk until the end. In the book the Pilgrim's Progress, Faithful was killed by townspeople because he was a Christian and chose to follow God until the end. 

As John Bunyon was, he did not make a mistake in choosing the name Faithful to go with the character and the storyline. Faithful was called to stay faithful to God and His promises no matter what it meant he had to sacrifice. In Faithful's case, this meant even death. This is not always the ending for us Christians, yet sometimes we become too afraid of what the world thinks to stay faithful to God and His promises.

God calls Christians to stay faithful to Him, His promises, and His eternal plan. He does not want us following what others consider cool if is means sacrificing what is important to Him. We are called to be His light in the darkness and bear His fruit. If we want to bear the Fruit of the Spirit, as mentioned before, it is a packaged deal. You either get it all or don't have any. We need to be faithful in showing love towards others, staying joyful, and so on. We can't just do it once a week! 

GENTLENESS

Gentleness. Does this mean we need to not roughhouse? Everyone needs to be treated like a flower? When my siblings and I were younger, we were constantly told by our parents that we needed to be gentle with one another, because our siblings are like flowers. But is that what being gentle is like? Is it all physical? 

When I first think of the word "gentle" I think of my childhood. Whenever my siblings and I would roughhouse, my mom would always remind us to be gentle- she would remind my brother that all girls are flowers. So, gentle meant soft, slow, careful. But, when we are commanded to be gentle towards others in our lives, does that only mean that physical carefulness? No, I think there is more to the meaning of the word gentle in this verse. 

God called us to be gentle with others. While we should be careful with what we say or do around others already, it always gets harder when we are angered and feel wronged. We need to be careful with what words or actions pop out as our first response when other emotions want to pop out. Being gentle is more than simply the physical. Our words can come across as "sweet as honey" or harsh and hurtful. We are called, as followers of Christ, to speak kind and gentle words to all those around us, whether we feel they deserve it or not. It's not our place to judge who deserves to have gentle words or not. That is God's place. But, He told us that everyone deserves gentle words. 

I feel like in the three paragraphs above I have repeated quite a few times because, of all of the parts of the Fruit of the Spirit, this one is one of the most simplistic and self-explainable. We need to be gentle with our words and actions to others, not matter what. 

SELF-CONTROL

I feel like self-control kind of wraps up all of the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit into one. Without self-control many of the above words are difficult. Like I mentioned when I was talking about love, we often find it difficult to love people we don't get along with. Sometimes it can get more extreme and we want to do the opposite. No matter what level, it takes self-control to love someone we don't want to. It takes self-control to have joy in tough situations. It takes self-control to be patient with those who aren't 'worthy' of being patient. It takes self-control to show the Fruit of the Spirit on a daily basis. 

To be honest, I think this was one of the hardest ones for me to learn when I was younger. Don't get me wrong- I don't have it all perfect yet either, but I have been able to improve in this area with the Lord's help. But, I struggled with this one as a child because I wanted the immediate satisfaction of getting the 'prize' or whatever the situation was. For example, I did not know how to control my tongue when I was in a fight with a friend because I wanted to show how mad I was at them and get them to realize they were wrong. What I did not understand back then was that in the long run, our friendship could fall apart because I did not have the self-control to stop what I was saying. 

Self-control is one of the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit that might not make a ton of sense in the moment, other than avoiding the situation's escalation. Yet, there are so many situations that will remain in the unknown because of the self-control used. This is a good thing. We all need to be able to show self-control and hold back all the fleshly emotions and words that could so easily come flowing out of us. Yet, none of them would bring glory to God. Self-control is very important to continue to show. 

Self-control reminds you, and sometimes even shows to the world that you admit you are not in control of your actions. Yes, you still have to own up to all the mistakes you make (which is plenty, just like me and everyone else as well). Yet, this means that when we show self-control we are allowing the Holy Spirit to take over our behaviors and redirect our focus on God. 

CONCLUSION

It's impossible to show all of the Fruit of the Spirit at all times. I mean, maybe it is possible. But, I have found that no one can show all the Fruit of the Spirit at all times, to all people. We all have our bad days or hours. We all make mistakes. These are attributes we want to become a part of us. We should want the Fruit of the Spirit to come naturally to us as we grow in these areas. It will take time, and no one will ever have it all down. But, we always need to turn to God and ask for His leading for what He wants us to do or say in every situation He gives us. 

I am no expert at all of these. Yes, I have some of the attributes that might come more naturally to me than others, but I also have a list of attributes I need to work on- seeds of the fruit if you would have it. We all have seeds that we need to add to the fruit, and some are already mature and ready to bear more fruit. It's always a process, and we need to be patient throughout as we follow what God tells us in His Word.