Sunday: The Fruits of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit have the same Author. Yet, they are not the same. No one is required to manifest a gift of the Spirit, but everyone should manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
Copyright by Linda Lovett Goodsalt.com
Spiritual gifts do not necessarily testify to spirituality, but the fruit of the Spirit does. While there is only one fruit, there are many gifts, and some are greater than others.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 1 Corinthians 12:11. What is the essence of what Paul is teaching here?
While all aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are designed by God to be visible in the lives of His followers, not every believer has the same gift or gifts. There is no command that all should have one particular gift, such as speaking in tongues. Instead, God sovereignly equips His believers with different gifts as He sees fit. The gifts of the Spirit are given so that we can serve others and build up the body of Christ, His church. These gifts are not given for our own pleasure and glory. They are bestowed to further the cause of God.
Therefore, spiritual gifts are worthless without the fruit of the Spirit. It is interesting that within the context of the spiritual gifts, love is often alluded to. Immediately after 1 Corinthians 12 comes the supreme description of love, in chapter 13. Ephesians 4:11-13 is followed in verses 15 and 16 with reference to love. The next verses after Romans 12:3-8, where the gifts of the Spirit are mentioned, speak about love (see Rom. 12:9-10).
The gifts are, after all, gifts of grace; that is, they are gifts of love. They are given out of love and serve the love of God in reaching other people. By loving others, we are revealing the love of God to them. A loving and omniscient God provides the means to accomplish what He has commissioned His people to do. Perhaps that is why love is the greatest gift of all (1 Cor. 13:13).
| Why is love so central to all that we do as Christians? How does love, in a sense, “empower” our witness? |
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I mean, how would You answer today's last question (in blue box )
it's answer implies such a deep spiritual truth!
I am sure that there will be those who try to answer this question with more Bible texts and Spirit of Prophecy quotes, but at the end of the day it is an invitation to go out and live the Gospel in a very practical way. If love is theoretical it is meaningless. We need to get away from our cosy little seats and interact with real people. That is what God does for us. That should be our response to him.
Our example is Jesus He spent most of His ministry outside mingling with the people
We studied that previously and we must follow His lead
If we truly love we reach out and share the gospel
Let's wear out our shoes not the pews
I think the very essence of faith is practical christianity and LOVE is the cement that binds all the fruits of the spirit into one fruit
Action of Love speaks louder than Words of Love
LOVE is what makes a "CHRISTIAN," be a "TRUE CHRISTIAN."
I do believe LOVE unites us ,it has to lead us directly to God ,read john 3:16 , God loved us so much that he even died for us ( note without racism or good or been bad , rich or poor .he died for everyone who leave in this world , now if we were to love one another there would be peace , no deseases,no disaster or crimes ,,let's love one another as God did !
I am not sure that love would provide us with peace, no disease, disaster or crime, but practical love would make those effects of sin more bearable. Loving our fellow man is the basis of good Christianity. We will make a difference to those who have no peace, who suffer from the effects of disease and disaster and crime when we put that love into practice. Jesus showed the way.
Love is the essence of Christianity. if we have love for our fellow men and for God (as the commandment states) we will have joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, and gentleness to our fellow men and to God we will die to self to allow him to work in us for self-control and this can only be done through faithfulness.
"Love" is the product or fruit of the Spirit in our lives. As we abide in the vine/Christ, our actions will pattern that of Christ. Love for humanity was the driving force that propelled Christ to leave the splendor of heaven to save us from the degradation and curse of sin while he full well knew the price He had to pay. He loved us more than He loved Himself, hence His self sacrifice. Our interactions with others should reflect that said self-sacrificing love that God showed us. We like Christ should be willing to give up everything for the saving of lost souls. Because of love we should be driven to be patient,kind, forgiving, and all the other aspects of the fruit of the spirit. Without Love the gifts of the Spirit (prophesying,tongues, etc.) would be worthless and we would become as empty barrels and silent music.
According to the dictionary, fruit is listed as both singular and plural, there is no 'fruits'.
So, like an orange, the fruit of the Spirit is one thing with many segments. We need to use all these segments to taste the full benefit of the fruit, so we need all the segments of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. They work together as one!
Without all these aspects, our witness to others will be without the power of God's love.
Very true Jane.
For me, the fruit of the Spirit I compared with a cake. Without all ingredients you will not get a cake. Adding that, baking powder is the main ingredient, just like love a main aspect/segment as you mentioned.
1 Cor. 13:13 says, "faith, hope, and love will remain." And then goes on to state that: "the greatest of these is love". The love spoken of here is one that God gives that is a self-sacrificing and giving love (1 Cor. 13:4-8). It is the kind of love which recognizes something of value in every human-being. It is given without regard to race, creed, status or affiliation. Those imbued with this God-given love are moved to apply the gift of the Holy Spirit everywhere with power. However, gifts devoid of this kind of love invariably result in self-aggrandisement, pride, confusion and division in the church. The work of the Lord gets compromised and embroiled in controversy. The exhortation to all of us is: "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 14:1,2).
Last Sabbath we saw that without love we are nothing, without love we can't do anything. So that ss why love is central to Christianity.
Wow this is very interesting, we all have different gifts/talent's, I have a talent but it's not spiritual. I sure thought "Spiritual gifts" testified to my spirituality. Like having a gift of teaching SS, holding BS = Bible Study's. Or anything that was spiritual.
And I thought the "Fruit of the Spirit" was the visual HS in me. Like being loving, helpful, kind, caring for & etc. Any anyone have a thought on this?
What does the writter refer to when he writes that "there is no command that all should have one particular gift such as speaking in tongues"? For us seventhday Adventists what does speaking in tongues mean? Somebody explain this to mi..
This is one of the Bible lesson I love. I agree that the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit have the same Author. Yet, they are not the same. No one is required to manifest a gift of the Spirit, but everyone should manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
Now the Lesson author comment also that The gifts are, after all, gifts of grace; that is, they are gifts of love and the Spirit gives as He pleases and the lesson further quotes from 1 cor 13:13 Perhaps that is why love is the greatest gift of all.
Can someone help me to understand? Is love both a gift and one of fruit of Spirit ingredient? If Love is a gift and the Spirit gives as He pleases, some might not have it?
Love is a Gift of God,the moment someone dies to self, love will come spontaneously.
Love will generate the Fruit of the Spirit so that person can be a added value to the Body of Christ with a Spiritual gift to do his part that God expect him to do, for the advancement of His kingdom.
Paul tells us to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-6) so that we develop humility, gentleness and patience. These attitudes enables us to bear with one another in LOVE through the common ground we have in Christ Jesus. Despite our differences, as members of the family of God we are reconciled to him through His death on the cross and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. What an awesome God we serve. In keeping the unity we are united in the Spirit.
Thanks for the reminder that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are by grace of Jesus Christ. More marvellously! that they ought to be used to show off Jesus Christ's love to the lost, and not for us to boast in. As we were once in darkness blinded to the truth until someone either preached, taught or prophesy unto us.
Glory !honour, and praise to Jesus Christ whom the Holy Spirit has revealed unto us.
Can we differentiate between a natural and/or acquired talent and a spiritual gift, both of which are used to build the church? Also should one unfortunately backslide will that spiritual gift remain with that person or be taken away?