Yesterday morning a passage which is probably familiar to you, Galatians 5:22-23, came to my mind. It reads, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Over the years, I’ve had several realizations about this passage that I’d like to share with you.
The list itself is pretty self-explanatory. But these qualities aren’t wimpy or “Casper Milktoast. – there’s a quiet strength involved in each of them. Patience when it’s so easy not to be, gentleness when it’s so much easier to use harsh words or yell.
The last phrase, “against such things there is no law” draws my attention. One aspect I notice about this phrase is that there is no law written against doing any of these things. Have you ever heard of anyone being arrested for being kind, or being too faithful? Who could object to these qualities? Wouldn’t it be nice if people were a little kinder, a little gentler? How about thinking before speaking?” There’s so much anger, so many harsh words spoken nowadays – it wears me out.
The second aspect is that, if we’re really honest, no law can make us do or be any of these things. No amount of self-effort can truly give us any of these qualities. So, how do we get them? Think of a fruit. Does a plant or tree struggle and force itself to produce fruit? No, the fruit just happens because that’s what that tree or plant does. No thought or effort is involved. We only have these characteristics when we allow the Holy Spirit to live in us and change us. He’s the One who changes our attitudes and actions to reflect His attitudes and actions, just like an apple tree produces apples (and not lemons).
If we belong to Jesus, we’re promised a “Sabbath rest” (Hebrews 4:9-11). That means we no longer have to work, because we can rest with complete confidence in what Jesus has accomplished for us. Rather than struggle in our human strength, the thing we are called to do is to yield ourselves to Him. His Holy Spirit will lead us, shape us, and change us. He’ll transform us to be more like Himself.