Part of this year’s goal setting involved a personal inventory.
Where do I need to make improvements in different aspects of my life? How do I go about improving in those areas? One area of my life I wanted to take time to assess is my spiritual journey. Am I growing spiritually? What exactly does spiritual growth look like for me?
As I prayed through these questions, the Lord brought to mind the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. For a long time I thought Paul’s words were about the fruits of the Spirit-multiple attributes that showed up in a believer’s life when they are growing spiritually. You probably know the ones I am talking about—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I have often thought, “I’ve got the kindness bit down, but I need to work on the self-control part.” Or, “How can I possibly grow both patience and peace in my heart at the same time?” In my mind, each of the character traits listed here were separate fruits that needed their own individual time, attention, and effort to grow.
As it turns out, this was not what Paul was talking about at all.
After spending some time digging into the original language of the text and reviewing commentary1 my whole perspective changed. This list of fruit, or “do’s,” comes after a long list of “do not’s” in Paul’s instructions to the church at Galatia. The difference is, the behaviors Paul said to avoid are all behaviors we can choose not to do. Sexual immorality, drunkenness, jealousy, hatred, and more are actions we can choose not to engage in. However, the fruit of the Spirit is not something we can do in ourselves. No amount of work, effort, or hustle can make us grow in the fruit of the Spirit.
I have often found myself feeling overwhelmed and discouraged when I tried to grow in the fruit of the Spirit on my own.
If it became clear I needed to have more patience in my life, I would grit my teeth and try to will myself into being more patient. It took a lot of energy, effort, and focus. Then, as I was striving for patience, it would become evident I was lacking self-control as well. I already felt stretched to the max trying to do this patience thing; how am I going to create self-control in myself also? You can guess how that turned out.
Learning the fruit of the Spirit was something the Spirit does in me, and not something I can create in myself was life changing!
God is not asking me to run around my personal spiritual garden trying to cultivate all of these different fruits at once. Instead, the Spirit is growing all of these attributes simultaneously in me. As the Spirit show me how to love well, I also grow in kindness, gentleness, and patience. As the Spirit teaches me about the peace only He can give, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control also expand in me.
Now I know that what God is asking of me is not a posture of head down and drive hard but one of open hands and an open heart.
When I choose to let the Spirit work in me according to His will, in His way, that is when I will grow spiritually. I know this means the growth process won’t be any easier. God never seems to take me on what I would consider to be the simplest route to growth. However, taking the responsibility of growing and developing the fruit of the Spirit out of my hands and placing it in His, leads to such a deep sense of freedom. I am so very thankful God asks me to surrender rather than hustle.
Have you been trying to grow the fruit of the Spirit in yourself? What would it look like for you to let go of the gardening tools and place them in the hands of God instead?
I found your post very relatable and loved your perspective. I have so been guilty of trying to grow myself too. I find comfort in knowing that I am not the only one. ❤️
You are most definitely not alone!