The world doesn’t have what you’re looking for.
You’d never know it listening to politicians promising to solve all our troubles, or reading about the latest “success strategies” for life. The truth is, the world has no real victory to offer. It can’t help people when they’re in a crisis, fix a crumbling marriage, heal bodies and emotions, or deliver those driven to destruction by fleshly lusts.
Lasting success apart from Jesus is not available. Without Him, there is no lasting access to supernatural forces like love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. There is no access to VICTORY.
But we do have access to all these things through Jesus, and even better, we can help the world find that power, too!
That’s why we’ll be popping in each month for the next nine months with lessons from Gloria Copeland’s brand-new book, Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit, to share the benefits of each fruit of the spirit and how it will catapult you to the victory you so need and desire in your life. Before we do, it’s important to understand why the fruit of the spirit is your foundation for victory.
1. The Fruit of the Spirit Sets the Stage
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” –Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
You can wish, hope and pray for breakthrough in your health, finances or relationships, but not much is going to happen until you have all your spiritual ducks in a row—that is, your fruit nice and ripe and producing every good thing. If you take each fruit one at a time and study it in Scripture, you’ll see how your victory depends on each and every one.
There’s no question that victory won’t come without faith and faith works by a fruit of the spirit—love. You need spiritual strength to get to the finish line where a manifestation comes shining through. Your strength? The joy of the Lord. Oh, and the power twin of faith? Patience. You’ve got to have patience to get to your faith to the finish line in victory. And that’s just three of the nine!
Are you starting to see how it all pieces together?
The fruit of the spirit is evidence of the Holy Spirit living and working in your life—a life yielded to Him. It sets the stage for victory. You know, it’s actually possible to be a tongue-talking Christian and have no fruit in your life.
You might be thinking, How is that possible?
The gifts of the Spirit are extremely valuable, and the Church definitely needs them (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). But unlike the fruit, the gifts don’t manifest whenever you want them to. You can’t get up every morning and say, “I believe I’ll walk in the word of wisdom and the gift of miracles today.”
No, the gifts manifest only as the Holy Spirit wills (1 Corinthians 12:11). They function only in certain situations. You can’t live on the gifts. People who try end up getting into trouble. In other words, if all we do is seek after spiritual gifts, without cultivating fruit, we’ll end up barren.
2. Your Fruit is Based on What You’ve Cultivated
“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.” Romans 8:5
We all do the same thing—dig through the produce at the grocery store to find the freshest, prettiest fruits or vegetables. Sometimes, you might come across a scrawny, shriveled-up-looking piece of produce that looks like it didn’t quite get the care it needed to become something great. The plant it grew on wasn’t fed or protected properly, so it didn’t yield the kind of thing that makes for good eating.
The same is true with the fruit in your life—it is based on what you’ve cultivated. If you’ve been too busy for the Word, and let other things fill your heart, your spirit will inevitably take a back seat and your flesh will take over. You’ll become thorny ground where cares and anxieties will come in and shrivel your love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, meekness and self-control—all in one swipe.
If you’re feeding on worldly media, you’ll cultivate desires of the flesh, which happen to be weeds ready to take over your healthy crop. Even overindulging in things that are not negative can distract us from spending enough time with God, which is where we grow healthy, strong, ripe, desirable fruit.
Watch Gloria and Kellie Copeland teach you how to pick your fruit once it has ripened.
The fruit in your life is based on what you’ve cultivated. If you just can’t seem to walk in love, respond patiently or exhibit self-control, it’s time to get out your spiritual gardening tools and get to work. Fertilize, cultivate and weed your spiritual garden with the Word of God, time in prayer, and time listening to solid teaching on VICTORY Channel™. Don’t settle for puny, shriveled fruit in your life. God has so much more in mind for you—the kind of victory that overcomes anything and everything life throws your way!
3. Your Fruit Opens or Closes the Door to Victory
“This is the victory that has overcome the world…our faith.” –1 John 5:4 (NIV)
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. That’s good fruit. But there is bad spiritual fruit, too. Grumbling, gossip, strife, pride, anger, self-centeredness, lust, doubt, cynicism and so on. Yes, you will cultivate fruit in your life, but if it isn’t the fruit of the spirit, it will close the door to victory in your life.
Remember how we talked about how the world cannot produce real victory? That’s because their efforts are laced with bad, rotten, stinky fruit. Even if they seem to get ahead in one way or another, it will be short-lived, and it is often drowned out by the failures they face in other areas of life.
That doesn’t have to be your lot in life. You have access to the greatest power known to man—the power of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you. That power gives you love that never fails, joy that gives you strength, patience that fuels your faith, and a faith that always wins. Talk about a foolproof formula!
Watch Gloria Copeland teach you why joy will bring you victory.
God has already provided every born-again believer with everything it takes to bear spiritual fruit. It’s a free garden, with free seeds and instructions included. That leaves us with no excuses!
Now that you know why the fruit of the spirit is your foundation for victory, let’s not leave one single dream or desire in the ground any longer. Let’s forge ahead this year with one destination programmed in our spiritual GPS—VICTORY. Let’s determine to yield the kind of fruit that pleases God and speaks the testimony of His goodness to the world. Let’s get cultivating!
Gloria Copeland’s newest book, Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit, is finally HERE! This much-anticipated book is a treasure-trove of knowledge and Bible wisdom that will help you live a more fruitful life in 2021 by cultivating the nine fruit of the spirit. Order your copy HERE for a special introductory price!
Related Articles:
Ministry Minute Fruit of the Spirit Series: Pick Your Fruit
50 ‘Gloria-isms’ for Life, Faith and Fun
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