Day Forty-Six

One of the very first verses of the Bible I ever memorized was about the Holy Spirit, or more accurately, the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christ’s disciples. It was from Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”—Galatians 5:22 (ESV)

That early in my Christian walk, however, I had a warped understanding of this verse. I looked at this list of qualities and assumed that it was kind of a “spiritual to-do list.” In other words, I had to work at getting better at all of them.

It wasn’t until a few years later, during a study of the gospel of John, that the meaning of Galatians 5:22 became clear. We were in the 15th chapter of John’s gospel, and these words from Jesus seemed to jump off the page for me:

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”—John 15:4-8 (NRSV)

An interesting thing happened to me as I went back and read over those words a couple of times—I started feeling very tired. Not sleepy, but worn out. Those words from John 15 exposed something in me that had been draining my spiritual energy for a long, long time: my false belief that becoming like Jesus was something that depended entirely on me. And it was like a flood of frustration rooted in self-effort washed over me, and I suddenly understood how much it had been exhausting me.

When preaching on Pentecost I would often refer to the Holy Spirit as the “forgotten member of the Trinity.” It’s not that we don’t mention him—we sing songs about the Spirit, and include language about the Spirit in our lessons and our liturgies—but I’m not sure we take time to fully understand his ministry in our midst. For many Christians their understanding of the Holy Spirit is based more on emotion than on any real sense of empowerment or transformation.

I can’t say all these years later that the realization I had while reading John 15 has completely taken root in my life. Too often I still operate in my own strength. I am like a branch trying to will fruit into being. But fruit is born only by faithfully clinging to the vine and letting the life of the vine flow through us.

The Spirit is that “life of the vine,” and as we yield to him we find that the list from Galatians is not a “to do,” but a “to receive” list. The more we surrender, the more he gifts us with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that would otherwise elude us.

Not that we are passive in this equation. We cooperate with the Spirit in this work, but our cooperation is not the primary factor in this equation—it is the supernatural power of the Spirit.

It seems like such a basic lesson, but so many of us are prone to forget it. As we prepare for Pentecost, perhaps today is a good day to be reminded. The song for today does that for us by starting with three simple words: You give me.

You give me
Love joy peace patience and faithfulness
Your goodness is here now
Self-control kindness and gentleness
Oh You give Your heart to me

Questions for Reflection

1) Spend a few moments meditating on each of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists. Which stand out to you as areas in your life where you might need to yield more to the Spirit’s supernatural work? Spend some time in prayer offering them in openness and surrender.

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self-control

2) Do you know the exhaustion that comes from trying to do in your own strength what only the Spirit can do? If that’s where you find yourself, offer it to God and ask him to demonstrate his peace and power to you in a new way.

3) Spend some time contemplating this quote from Watchman Nee:

Some seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit with genuine earnestness. Yet often what they crave is but some joy, for the "I" is hidden behind their quest.

4) Read and reflect on this passage of Scripture. Let it lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:

“For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.”—Romans 3:5 (CSB)