The Key to the Experience of the Fruit of the Spirit

If we will only choose to submit,
And be still at God’s faithful feet,
Feeling the peace just there to sit,
The peace to feel perfectly complete.
But with our flesh there will be a fight,
Yet to overcome pride is delight,
Allow God in there to intercede,
And on Him, alone, we are to feed.
When we have nothing on Earth to lose,
And we understand through sin we abuse,
When we see life through the lens of light,
We have the power to do what’s right.

***

There is a connection, intrinsic and true, between obedience and the fruit of the Spirit. If only we can see ourselves as we are – sinners, saved by grace – we are then compelled, out of gratitude, to honour God through obedience; that is to turn God’s way – to repent – and to keep on turning.

The reward for doing what is right is we exemplify this fruit of the Spirit. This is not just a personal reward; it’s a reward for everyone else, too. Everyone wants to be dealt with in love and to be in receipt of goodness and kindness from others, and if we have faithfulness and self-control we harm no one. True relational acumen means joy and peace are experienced.

We have to expect that our pride will be a gargantuan barrier that we must overcome in a daily, minute-by-minute, way. But with every swift rejection of our pride comes more power and self-control through humility. This power and self-control is sacrosanct through submission. The more we submit, the more we obey, the more blessed we are in terms of the fruit of the Spirit.

A sinner saved by grace,
Because of faith to seek His face,
The believer will be blessed,
Every time sins are addressed.
Repenting means to change,
To allow God to rearrange,
Our values to inform,
Behavioural change
To meet life’s storm.

***

God has power we may nothing about; until we totally submit to him. To change in a significant way requires much external benefit and blessing. We cannot do it all on our own, but what we can do is lose our worldly lives so we may save our eternal life (see Mark chapters 8-10).

The beauty of this serene power is that it is impossible to know unless we have experienced it. Many people may think they have it when, perhaps, they don’t. This power of God’s is only available as we surrender the very second to him as we must abide in that second.

The key to the experience of the fruit of the Spirit is diligent, humble, and responsible obedience.

© 2014 S. J. Wickham.