I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
The Fruit the Spirit Produces
Paul, the author of the letter of Galatians, spends a large part of his letter explaining what it means to live by the Spirit of God. He describes what it looks like for Christians to live according to the Spirit, and also what it looks like to live apart from the Spirit.
One of the key distinctions for those who live according to the Spirit of God is that they produce certain external qualities. Paul calls these the fruit of the Spirit.
Just like an apple tree produces apples and a vineyard produces grapes, so we as Christians are also meant to produce certain things in our life.
Paul lists nine character qualities that should be evident in someone’s life if they’re walking according to God’s ways. They are:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
Just like the fruit of a tree isn’t meant for the tree itself, but for others, so also the fruit of the Spirit in a Christian’s life is not meant for themselves, but for others. We are to love one another, take joy in one another, have peace with one another, and be kind to one another.
The fruit of the Spirit is meant to be grown and harvested within Christian community rather than in isolation. We were created for a relationship with God and others.
Take a look at the list of fruit the Spirit produces in a Christian’s life. Be honest and ask yourself: Which fruit am I producing? Which fruit am I not producing, and why am I not producing it? Take note of a few small steps you can take to grow closer to God in those areas of your life and produce more fruit.
“Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths. He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such ...
