The Holy Spirit first came on Christ's church at Pentecost. We read about this exciting event in Acts chapter two. Pentecost was a wonderful and spectacular event in the life of the early church. The Holy Spirit does not come into the hearts of believers today with tongues of fire and a rushing wind, as it did on this one occasion. In spite of this, the Holy Spirit is in the heart of every child of God today also.
It was the Holy Spirit who convinced us of our sins and caused us to have the ability and the desire to believe. It was the Holy Spirit who caused us to repent of our sins and to turn to the Lord for forgiveness. As children of God the Holy Spirit now reminds us of what we have learned from reading God's Word. The Holy Spirit is the One who helps us to apply God's Word to our daily lives.
The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts as believers and gives us the power and desire to live for the Lord Jesus. If we are true children of God we must also grow in our spiritual lives. We must more and more begin to display Christlike attitudes in our lives. Galatians 5:16 reminds us that we must "live by the Spirit" and "not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." We must get rid of anything impure and selfish. We must rid ourselves of hatred, jealousy, and divisiveness. In its place we must show the fruit of the the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit which should be increasingly evident in our lives are listed in Galatians 5:22:23. That passage says to us, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Love, the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in this Scripture passage, involves unselfishly putting the good of others first. True love is willing to sacrifice for others and does not think only about one's own needs and desires.
Joy as well as love and all the other fruit of the Spirit comes only from the Lord. When the Lord changes our hearts He gives us a deep down joy that is not dependent on what we consider favorable circumstances. This joy comes from the presence of Jesus Christ in our hearts. It is a joy which we can possess even in times of great difficulty in our lives, because we know and trust the Lord.
Peace is yet another fruit of the Holy Spirit. Peace is a calmness that we as children of God can experience in even the worst of circumstances. We can experience peace, because we know the Lord is walking right beside us. We can experience peace, because we know that He is in control of every detail of our lives. Peace also comes from walking in God's ways. If we are out of fellowship with the Lord and walking in our own stubborn ways, we can not experience peace.
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is not often evident in our fast-paced society. We tend to want things right now, and we do not like waiting. God wants us, however, to follow His perfect leading and to depend on His perfect timing for the events of our lives. We must learn to trust that the Lord knows what is best for us and that He knows when it is best for us. Patience is waiting for God to lead us without grumbling. The fruit of the Holy Spirit of patience also shows itself in our relationships with others. Patience involves long-suffering and patience with the wrongs others commit against us. We can only demonstrate patience in our dealings with others, if our hearts are filled with the love of the Lord.
May it be our passion to truly show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. May we show His love to others, His joy and peace in all circumstances, and His patience in our lives!
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