Retreat Reflections

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

What a wonderful week-end we had at our retreat! For those of you who could not make it and for others who read this blog, I would like to take the next couple of entries to highlight some of what we talked about regarding the fruit of the Spirit.

First, let me remind us that the wording in Galatians is "fruit" of the Spirit and not "fruits" of the Spirit. God's Holy Spirit actually blesses us with one giant "fruit" if you will, with many parts. We often think of getting some fruits and not others, but actually the Lord give us the whole package when we surrender ourselves to the working of His Holy Spirit. Some parts of the fruit, however, are more evident than others at certain times in our lives.

I believe that love is the first part of the fruit that is mentioned here for a reason. Love must be the foundation for all of the other parts of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that without love--we are nothing. Once we truly grasp just how much our Father loves us and receive that love from Him and others in the body of Christ, we are then in a position to be able to surrender and allow the rest of the fruit to work its way into our hearts.

If you sense you are missing peace--go back and check your love. If you aren't walking in joy--go back and check your love. If gentleness isn't evident in your walk--go back and check your love. 1 John 4:10 says,"...this is love, not that we loved Him but that He loved us and sent His Son... As we daily set aside time with God we are keeping that line of communication open that helps us receive all that He has for us and continually confirms to us how much He loves us. That's why the enemy fights so hard to keep us from spending time with the Lord. He knows what can happen when we know who we are in Christ and walk in His love.

Set aside that time today. Even if it's just 5 minutes it will be the best 5 minutes you spend all day.