But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
No doubt, you’ve heard the old adage about not
praying for patience, because you’ll “get it” – through hardships and troubles.
As we consider directions and goals for 2023 in terms of things Scripture suggests,
that seems to often be the case. There’s no need to be strong and courageous if
everything’s pleasant. We don’t need faith when we have everything we want. There’s
no reason to seek freedom if we aren’t enslaved or under attack. We aren’t even
likely to notice “the other guy” if our own relationship with God is right.
Some time ago, I
read The
Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff. In it, they
talk about people having the quality of anti-fragility. While modern America
seems to think people will break under pressure, Haidt and Lukianoff claim that pressure makes people stronger. Viktor Frankl found that those with a “why” could better endure their circumstances in a German concentration
camp. The reason to endure and survive made the prisoners strong enough to
survive.
In the same way,
all of the things we know as “The Fruit of The Spirit” develop
in us because of difficulties. Love that is never tested remains a weak love.
If the lover can’t weather the storms of a relationship,
he/she doesn’t remain in the relationship – or is destroyed by it.
Joy is the contentment one experiences because one knows that one is cared for. But one
can hardly understand that one is cared for if one never notices any need for
care.
Peace involves refusing
to fight the current, but can only really develop if you’re aware of that
current.
As we have said, patience develops as a response to circumstances we don’t want. In the same way,
if we’ve never needed kindness or noticed the unfairness of the world that
makes kindness valuable, we’re not likely to value kindness. We appreciate
goodness only because we’ve experienced evil or understand the price paid for
it. Faithfulness can only exist in a state of lack or temptation. Gentleness is
unrecognized if there is no possibility of brutality. Self-control can only be
developed as a response to temptation.
Perhaps you know
precisely which of these you would like God to develop in your life. Pray for
it. Each time I say, “This one!” the need for another comes to my attention.
Fortunately, God knows best and has presented them as a bundle: as the fruit of
the Spirit. That’s partly because He knows we need more than one and partly because they are all the same. Just as oranges have vitamins B-6 and C and minerals, Calcium, Magnesium, and
Potassium, so the fruit of the Spirit has the nutrients needed for a healthy
soul. You can either seek it for its specific nutrients, or you can seek it because
it tastes good. Either way, you benefit.
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