In Galatians 5:22:26 (Amplified), Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit and the conduct of the Spirit controlled Christian. This conduct is nothing more than not committing adultery, theft, murder or any other acts of the flesh. We, as Christian people, allow the Word and the Holy Spirit to bring our flesh under the control of the Spirit, but somehow we haven't allowed Him to help us control our emotions.
We haven't renewed our minds and emotions by the Word. Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified) says, "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of (all) the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice), holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." Verse 2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), BUT BE TRANSFORMED (CHANGED) BY THE (ENTIRE) RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND (BY ITS NEW IDEALS AND ITS NEW ATTITUDE)."
Sometimes, we forget that the way we act and feel is motivated by the way we think. If we live and think the same as before we were saved, then something's really wrong with out commitment to our new Lord. We forget that in our old lives we lived by the dictates of our mind. Even now that we're born again, our minds still control the emotions (soulish) and directs our steps. In our spirit, we know what to do, but in our minds, we continue to operate the way our minds tells us to do.
If we think on certain things, they can determine the way we act and feel. Loneliness is a feeling of being alone that brings depression. A renewed mind (one that's filled with the Word) knows that we're never alone. Jesus said that He will never leave you, nor forsake you, but be with you always. You might say, "Well, I know Brother, but I need someone to talk to." A Spirit led man knows he always has the ear of the Father.
As Christians, we somehow still don't see God as a "real" audience and Someone we can have fellowship with. We continue walking as carnal men allowing our emotions to rule us. We use some wisdom in our lives, but only when we want to. Have you ever wondered why we don't allow our emotions to rule us when we are pulled over for speeding? We don't jump out of the car and cuss out the policeman, but very politely address him and answer his questions. We might ask, "How may I help you, Officer?" But, when we get home, we unload on our wife and/or children about the ticker we got.
So too, we can control the way we act, think and feel by the Holy Spirit and wisdom. You can choose to be depressed or you can choose to be happy. You can choose to forgive or you can choose to hold onto your unforgiveness. You can choose to be full of anger or joyful. Just like you can choose to be saved or you can choose not to be saved. You can choose to heed what the Spirit says or ignore what He says to do.
Walking in the fruit of the Spirit is a choice we make. It may be the last part of the old man to truly die to Christ. We sometimes want to hold onto the old man, good or bad, in our minds. People who were hard into the world are plagued by the memories of the sins that held them. We walk in condemnation of some of the awful things we used to do. This isn't the good soil for the seed of the fruit to grow in.
The unrenewed mind is the thorns, thistles and weeds that choke out the seed and prevent it from growing. Mark 4:19 (Amplified) says, "These old thoughts and memories, control the emotions and keep us under the bondage of the past (even into the present)." We have thought that reading the Word was just something we're supposed to do now that we're saved. The importance of reading the Word is to renew our minds as to who we are now.
We can change the way we conduct our lives by the Word. We can also change the way we conduct our emotions by the same Word and the Holy Spirit. We seem only to allow Him to change our speech and emotions to a certain degree. By the Holy Spirit, I don't swear anymore. Yet with the same Holy Spirit, I can't (or won't) allow Him to change my speech into something pleasant. The residue of the old man still haunts my mind and therefore, my emotions. My flesh and blood body only responds to what my mind allows it to do. It can't do whatever it wants too, unless my mind and emotions give it liberty to do so. Your body can't simply (by its own accord) do whatever it wants. It must be told to do it or allowed to do it.
A renewed mind (the mind of Christ) knows exactly how we're to walk before God as His children. We've allowed Him to guide us and keep us free from the sins of the flesh that were committed under the Law. We're no longer under the Law, but grace and the Spirit and have so much more to enjoy. Don't we know yet that the Holy Spirit isn't going to make us do anything? We aren't driven by the Holy Spirit, but led by Him. He won't make us walk in love, but He will show us how and lead us into His love.
Jesus said in John 16:13 (Amplified), "But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the truth giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the truth (the whole, full truth) for He will not speak His Own message (on His Own authority) but He will tell whatever (from the Father, He will give the message that has been given to Him) and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (that will happen in the future)."
This is the same Holy Spirit Who is to produce the fruit in us. He will do it by leading and guiding us through the Word and the Love (which is God) within us. This is the same God Who loved us enough to die in our place when we didn't even know Him. This is the same God Who forgave and forgot all of our mistakes. This is the same God Who rejoiced in the return of the prodigal son. This is the same love, the same God, the same Spirit Who commands us to love other and He has loved us.
He will not make us do it, but He will enpower, lead, reveal, strengthen and encourage us in how we're to act and live. His job is to change us into the Image of the Father. We must learn to hear and to be led by His voice and presence. As Christians, we're not always very tolerant of others. This is called self-righteousness and it not the fruit of the Spirit. We forget sometimes that sinner sin...that's what they do. We can't expect the unsaved to walk in the Spirit because they don't have the Holy Spirit.
The old criticisms of the Church have to stop. We're intolerant of other Christians who believe differently than us. We're almost brutal in our walk at times. I remember being refused communion at another church once, because I wasn't a member of their fellowship. Am I not a member of the same family? What makes us family isn't having a card in their fellowship, but the Blood of Jesus.
If we learn to practice the fruit of the Spirit at home, then we can learn to walk in it any place. This isn't a conduct that we put on, but a life that we live. It's not what we do, but who we are. If they Holy Spirit can change us from a sinner to a child of God, if He can take us from unrighteousness to His righteousness, if He can take the dead in sin and make them alive to God, then He can remove our old temperment and attitude and produce fruit in the new soil of our hearts.
If we will allow Him to be God in our emotions and minds like He is in our spirit, then He'll produce fruit to His harvest. We forget that even Jesus had to allow God's will to be done in His life and not His Own. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that, "If there is any other way to let this cup pass Me, but if not, Not My will but Yours be done." We mostly still want our will to be done. We don't admit it, but we want what we want instead of what He wants. We know better, but we exercise our will for our own pleasure instead of His.
An apple tree doesn't have to try being an apple tree because it is one. A Christian doesn't have to try being a Christian. God made us to be one when we got saved. Just be what we are and bear the fruit that shows it. Simply abide in the Vine and the fruit will come. The word "abide" means to "stay united and to live in Him." That's the life that produces the fruit. Fellowship with the Father.
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