Growing Season: Bearing Fruit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

~Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Beginning in the middle of April and finishing at the end of May, my Bible study group participated in Abundant Life Christian Fellowship's Growing Season: Bearing Fruit. Growing Season was a 7-week endeavor to experience Spirit-led transformations through hearing a sermon series by Pastor Paul Sheppard on the fruit of the Spirit and meeting together in small Growing Season groups to apply the Word in our lives.

Without going into too much detail, the fruit of the Spirit are (with links to the actual lessons we discussed in our Growing Season groups):

The 9 fruit of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control

1. Love - When the Bible uses the term "love," it most often uses the Greek word agape. Agape love is expressed by the actions of God. The lesson details what it means to walk in love. We're called to love God, we're called to impact our world for Christ by loving others, and we're empowered to love in God's way by the Holy Spirit. You should also listen to Love by God's Property.


2. Joy - Many of us confuse "joy" with "happiness." Happiness is dependent upon what happens while joy persists in every single circumstance. Joy first begins with the reality of God's love and is actually multiplied when it is experienced in community. You should also listen to Joy by Mary Mary.


3. Peace - Peace is such a key idea in the Bible, that every New Testament book except 1 John mentions it at least one. Biblical peace is associated with the abundant life that God desires for all of us. The lesson details that God is the source of peace, God desires peace in all areas of our lives, and God calls us to actively seek peace.


4. Patience - Patience is the attitude and action that covers the waiting period between our hopes & expectations and our present reality. It's suffering through our present circumstances while pressing on towards a desired end. In the lesson we learned that patience has no place for pride, leads to God's promises and blessings in our lives, and is a godly virtue that is cultivated through time and experiencing challenge & adversity.


5. Kindness & Goodness - Kindness is an expression of agape love and its value is seen when you consider a world without it - a world marked by deciet, cursing, bitterness, bloodshed, ruin, misery, and no peace or fear of God. Goodness is pretty similar to kindness, but generally describes the actions of God as opposed to those of people. We should practice kindness and goodness to everyone (even those we deem "unworthy" of such loving actions) because we are called to live as Jesus lived. You should also listen to So Good by God's Property.


6. Faithfulness - Faith is a strong iternal belief that is unwavering - something we know to be true in our heart. Faithfulness is faith in action. It's demonstrated by God through his love, grace & mercy, and practiced in partnership with Him though the Holy Spirit. You should also listen to Faithful is Our God by Hezekiah Walker


7. Gentleness & Self-control - Gentleness is generally thought of as passive and weak, but it's actually strength under control. Jesus Christ was gentle so how could it be weak? Self-control is the ability to stay in obedience to God even in the face of undeniable temptation or distraction. The more we live in self-control, the less we live with painful consequences.

I found the 7-week series to be both enriching and motivating. I've found that the fruits I struggle with most are peace and patience. As a matter of fact, I was standing in line at Wal-Mart yesterday with only 7 items and it most have taken 30 minutes to get through the line. Patience was most definitely needed. But that's not to say that I have the others on lock either. Whenever I'm unhappy with circumstances, I have to remind myself that despite the suckiness of the current situation, I can still have joy in the fact that God will never leave me nor forsake me.

So if you are part of Bible study or just simply want to improve your relationship with God, I highly suggest you spend time reading through the 7 lessons. But don't try to read them all at once. Take one a week, so that you can spend time meditating on the message and make a concerted effort to put the lesson's teachings into practice for the week. You'll slowly begin to see your life transform for the better.