Walking with the Spirit part 2
Fruit for the Self
This week we are continuing our look at discipleship in a biblical context. Now, we are certainly not going to treat the topic exhaustively. The Bible has all kinds of commands, examples, and themes related to the idea, and so for this series, we are primarily looking at a key verse from Galatians.
Paul writes,
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:16-17
Paul tells us the more we walk by the Spirit (or if you have KJV “in the Spirit”), the more we will resist the desires of the flesh. We cannot do both—gratify our flesh and walk in the Spirit. The two are mutually exclusive. We can first ask ourselves “What do I really want to do,” and then we can act accordingly. If we truly want to honor God, then we must walk with Him.
It will help us to consider this funny Greek word that is translated “walk by” or “walk in”. It is parapeteite meaning “walk in or around. It’s a compound word from para meaning “around” or “encircling” and peteite meaning “to walk”. It’s a word picture of walking in circles around something that simply means “focus your attention on”. It is also the same root word used to denote followers of Aristotle because they would literally “walk with him” like little puppies following their master. In fact, in four different places Paul uses different verbs to describe following the Holy Spirit—here in 5:16, “led by” in 18, “live by” in 25a, and “keep in step” in 25b. When we consider all of these verbs together and the word picture itself, we see Paul is saying:
Christians are called to live their lives focused on the Holy Spirit as their central guide.
It seems fairly straightforward, but we know this isn’t always the case. A little ways down, Paul then gives us evidence for us to consider whether or not we are actually living our lives “walking in the Spirit.” These traits are how we can know if the Holy Spirit is working in our lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:22-24
We will see these character traits in our lives more and mor as we continue walking in the Spirit. But walking in the Spirit requires learning how to walk in the Spirit. Learning involves three domains—cognitive, affective, and psychomotor (or head, heart, and hands). Likewise, discipleship and following Jesus requires these same domains. Consider the two great commandments:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27
We are to love the Lord with all our being—head, heart, and hands—and so we can look at the list of fruit of the Spirit in light of these three domains. We will take 3 fruits at a time, and it just so happens that we can also consider how these fruits impact our self, others, and God’s mission. This week we will take a look at the first three and how these fruits help us with our own self.
It may seem a little odd to consider how these fruits impact ourselves when they also certainly affect our relationships with others, but I want us to look at them a bit selfishly first simply because we cannot help others if our own self is still broken. We can’t teach others to love, have joy and peace, if we ourselves cannot love, have joy or peace. Remember the vital words from every flight attendant, “Put your own mask on first before helping others.” Jesus said it this way, “Remove the plank from your own eye before the speck from your brother’s eye."
Love
The first “fruit” is love. It is worthwhile to note Paul contrasts evidence of the flesh and evidence of the Spirit with “works” and “fruit” respectively. Even our walk in the Holy Spirit is not about working per se, but rather allowing the Spirit to work in us. Some homework for you this week would be to go back and read the Parable of the Sower and consider how the seed would grow and bear fruit only in the soil that was ready for it. Rather than thinking “how can I work at loving more,” it would be more helpful to think “how can I cultivate love in my life?” And that is where our framework of head, heart, and hands becomes helpful.
If we are to cultivate love in our daily lives, we must first consider where our heads are at. Do we fill our heads with the things that God loves, or even things that help us to love in general? There is an old children’s song that goes like this:
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.
Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.
Oh, be careful, little hands, what you do.
Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go,
Part of following Jesus, and walking in the Spirit, is being careful what we focus our attention on. What are the things that we are filling our senses with? And much more than simply the old “garbage in, garbage out” mantra, if we are to cultivate love in our minds, we must also fill our minds with the knowledge of God’s love. Paul also prayed for the Ephesians:
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19
Then, as we learn more about love in light of God’s love, we can evaluate our heart. Does our heart love? Is our desire to love as God loves? Perhaps it will be helpful to consider the works of the flesh Paul mentions in 19-21. Two of those are “dissensions” and “divisions”. If the flesh desires to divide us based on personal preferences, ethnicity, and whatever else the sin-filled can conceive, then love desires to unite across these divisions. And this means being a peacemaker as Jesus called us to be in Matthew 5.
Once we have filled our minds with things that cultivate love, bent our hearts towards pursuing love, then we can fulfill acts of love.
We cannot expect to be loving people if our minds and hearts are not set on love. And we will know that love is growing in our lives when we see loving acts. John says it this way:
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:16-18
And once we get love cultivating, then we will see the rest of the fruit follow.
Joy
Joy comes from love, and the Lord is the source for our joy. But joy also gives us something vital for our own benefit. It gives us strength. When Nehemiah had the Law read to the people after they returned from exile, the people were moved to tears and lamented. They were ready to begin fasting and grieving, but Nehemiah commanded the Levites to tell the people not to grieve and fast. In fact, they were supposed to celebrate because the Lord had brought them back into their land and renewed his covenant with them. He ends this direction with:
Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”
Nehemiah 8:10
When someone surrenders to Jesus finding forgiveness and eternal life, it is a time to celebrate. Their sin has been atoned for, and their new life has started. The Israelites were told to celebrate, not mourn, because their new life had started. They will face uncertain and difficult days, but the joy of the Lord will be their strength.
The closer we walk with the Holy Spirit, the more we will find joy and strength to face the days ahead.
Sometimes ‘joy’ is confused with ‘happiness.’ Though the two are connected in some ways, they are different things. In fact, while we’re on the subject, I will confess something. I don’t like the children’s song “Happy All the Time.” It goes:
I’m inright, outright, upright, downright
Happy all the time
I’m inright, outright, upright, downright
Happy all the time
Since Jesus Christ came in
And cleansed my heart from sin
I get what the song is trying to do—entertain kids and teach the joy of the Lord, but it confuses ‘joy’ and ‘happy.’ I once had a student at a Christian private school where I taught who was real down. She wanted to skip the chapel service because she “just wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.” I told her I absolutely understood, and we aren’t promised that if we follow Jesus we will be “happy all the time.” But, I told her, we can still find joy in the hard times. Even more, God still loves to hear from us even if we are just lamenting. The Lord values honesty, not just in our words and actions, but also in our feelings. Additionally, she had to attend because it wasn’t optional, so I said, “Let’s go.”
While our current culture does not respond well to the idea of ‘duty regardless of feelings,’ it is still inevitably a part of life—even life walking in the Spirit.
We can fulfill our duty and responsibilities as Christians when we learn to walk in the joy of the Spirit of the Lord.
The Joy of the Lord is our strength to continue walking. Consider Psalm 4:
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.Psalm 4
Notice the contrast between David and the people who ask the Lord to “show us some good.” David tells them to ponder in their hearts, be silent, and offer right sacrifices. They should put their trust in the Lord. David does that and his prayers are heard. He receives more joy than “they have when their grain and wine abound.” And this great joy brings him peace.
A little bit of historical trivia may help illuminate the plight of the people even more. When David says they have joy “when their grain and wine abound,” he may be referencing their alcoholic celebrations. When an agricultural community in the ancient world had an abundance of grain and/or grapes, they would use the extra supply to make beer and wine. The Middle East is a geographic exception in that the area can produce both fairly easily. That’s one of the reasons it’s called “the Fertile Crescent.”
Paul has a related command in Ephesians.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18
While I do not prescribe to the idea any little sip of alcohol in inherently sinful, I do believe walking in the Spirit requires us to ask ourselves, “Where do I find strength to face the world?” Are we leaning on the Holy Spirit and the joy of the Lord, or are we just waiting for 5 o’clock? Only when we put our trust in the Lord can we find true peace.
Peace
Peace is what our soul longs for. It is more than just “the absence of conflict.” It is the feeling that comes when we know our Lord, when our heart is tuned with His, and when we can continue acting and doing as He designed us to do—regardless the circumstances.
Peace is the result of our head, heart, and hands being aligned with God’s design for us.
Discipleship is the process of learning how to follow Jesus better, so that we can be the person God designed us to be. For many Christians, it becomes a legalistic endeavor where we are trying to please God and hope he doesn’t strike us with lightning or something. But that’s not the God we serve. That guy is Thor or Zeus. God designed us to live at peace with the world and people around us. As we continue our discipleship journey, we can remember the goal for ourself is to be at peace. We can have peace with God and peace with others. Hebrews offers this prayer that I would like us to pray for ourselves as we close:
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
Spend time this week filling your head with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and the work he has done to accomplish your salvation. Read your Bible. Join a small group. Start a new devotional.
Spend time this week filling your heart with the love of the Lord. As you read your Bible, prayerfully seek what God is telling you. In your small group, rejoice with those who are rejoicing by counting each other’s blessings. Weep with those who weep recognizing that hard times will come and go, but the joy of the Lord is forever.
And with your head and heart filled with knowledge and love of the Lord, you can walk in the Spirit. Take the step of faith he calls you to take, and you will discover the peace the God of Peace has in store for you.