Fruit of The Spirit Bible
Scripture Study:
Lesson 1: Have You Been Marked?
Having
believed, you were marked in Him with a seal. The promised
Holy Spirit ~Ephesians 1:13 (NIV)

Exploring the Fruit of the
Spirit in the Bible:
...Every
healthy (sound) tree
bears good fruit [worthy of admiration],
but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree
bears bad (worthless) fruit.
A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit,
nor can
a bad (diseased) tree
bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]...
Therefore,
you will fully know them
by their fruits.
- Matthew 7:17-20 (AMP)
Jesus
told His disciples that you can tell if someone truly belongs to Him by
the kind of spiritual fruit that they produce. What does that
mean?
When you surrender your life to Jesus, your salvation is not free.
It's bought with a very high price.
The crucification and death of Christ.
You
may sometimes ask yourself why God thinks you're worthy of that
sacrifice?
Despite all of your attempts at perfection, you constantly miss the
mark. Surely trading Jesus' excellence for your mediocrity could not
have been the best choice.
But Your Heavenly Father has a very special kind of love towards
you. He longs for you to be able to bask in His presence.
And, once He finally gets
you - You're Marked.
Now, the changes don't happen over
night. They're gradual.
You may not notice them over days and weeks. Or even after
several months. But, you are God's
work in progress - Not your own.
As I explain in
The Spirit Controlled Life, the Fruit of the Spirit are not things that
we can scrounge up on our own. But, the more time you spend
truly seeking God, the more these signs of your allegiance to Him
become evident in every area of your life.
Everything that you do. Every thing that you say.
You begin to look more like Jesus.
Have You
Been Marked
by the Spirit of God?
Here are the 9 Signs to
Check For:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patient
Endurance
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faith
and Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-Discipline
(Galatians 5:22-23)
These
signs are called the
9
Fruits of the Spirit. They are evidence to the world that
you have been paid for by the blood of Jesus, and you have the
Mark
to prove it!
You live for Him, and His Spirit lives inside of you.
What is the Purpose of the Fruits of the Spirit?
There are two huge things that the Fruits of the Spirit accomplish
here on Earth.
- They give you
the power to fulfill your destiny in Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit
bearing spiritual fruit inside of you, you would be powerless.
You wouldn't have the endurance
and faithfulness
to complete the calling that God has given you. You wouldn't
even
have the self-discipline
to study your Bible or pray.
Without the Fruits of the Spirit, the gifts that God has hidden inside
of you, would stay locked away forever.
- They are what
God uses to draw people to Himself through you.
Do you know
anyone who, no matter the situation, always radiates a godly peace - They are
unshakable. People in this world are drawn to that kind of
peace.
With all of the chaos surrounding them every day, they search their
entire lives for whatever peace
and joy
they
can get their hands on.
They
end up trying to fill the void with fleeting counterfeits like alcohol
and illicit sex. Things that merely numb their pain for a
short
while, but leave them longing once again, after the party is over.
When they look at you in a time of crisis, and see God's
unshakable peace
and joy staring
back at them through your eyes,
they want to know what you know.
Then, you can introduce them to Who
you know.
Remember, the Fruits of the Spirit are not something that you can
scrounge up on your own, but gifts that God gives to you. He
uses them to
set you free from human frailties like anger, fear and depression.
He wants to give you His peace for your stress
and anxiety, His love for your unforgiveness, His joy for your
depression, and on and on.
I
explain more about how this Great
Exchange takes place, as well as your
vital role in the process, in The Hem's Online Bible Class, The Spirit
Controlled Life.
Fruit
of the Spirit Bible Study:
Reflection Questions:
- Do you believe in your heart that you have been Marked by the
Spirit of God? Why or why not?
- Do you agree with the idea that people in the world
can be drawn to God by His fruit in your life? Why or why not?
- What Fruits of the Spirit do you already see
manifesting in your life?
- Which of the 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit do you still
need God to manifest inside of you? Stop now and pray for the
Holy Spirit to begin this work today!
|
9 Fruit of the Spirit Bible Scripture Study
Lesson 1:
Have You Been Marked?
Lesson 2:
Love, Joy, and Peace
Lesson
3:
Endurance, Kindness, and Goodness
Lesson 4:
Faith, Gentleness, and Self-Control |