How do I receive the Fruit of the Spirit?
We receive the fruits of the Holy Spirit by first being born of the Spirit, which is the moment someone decides to turn from their sin and have faith in Christ. At this moment that individual has received the fruits of the Spirit.
The Bible says that humans are three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Bible also says that when someone gets born-again they become a brand new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Now, of course, this new creation is not your body becoming new because if you were skinny before you got saved, you’ll be skinny after you got saved. And it isn’t referring to your soul because your soul is your mind, will, and emotions, and the Bible makes it clear that the believer has to cooperate with the Spirit of God to have the soul renewed (Romans 12:1-2, James 1:21).
So this new creation that takes place in the believer’s life, happens in the person’s spirit.
This is why when someone gets saved they have brand new desires. They no longer have the desire to pursue worldly lusts, rather they begin to have a yearning for the things of God.
So when someone is born again, through repentance and faith, God gives them “a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). Which is just Old Testament language for rebirthing our spirits by the Holy Spirit and imparting to us His nature through our inner man, which manifests itself as fruits in our life as we yield to Him.
This is how the fruits of the Spirit are received.
How do I grow/develop the fruit of the Spirit?
We grow and develop the fruit of the Spirit through walking with the Spirit of God. Only through fellowshipping with Him and keeping our mind stayed upon Him will we ever have His fruits develop in our lives.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:16-17 & 22-23)
This passage above reveals clearly how we are to grow the fruits of the Spirit in our life.
This verse tells us to not walk in the flesh but to instead walk in the Spirit. This scripture promises us that if we can do this then we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but we will automatically bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Now the next question is how do we walk in the Spirit?
Well, the Spirit of God is a Person. He is literally the Presence of God for He is God being present with us, all the time.
So, in the natural, how do you walk with a person?
You talk to them, you get to know them, and you listen to them as you walk together. And if this person is a highly esteemed person then you would respect what that person has to say, and you would even receive guidance on where to go next as you walked together.
You see, walking in the Spirit is walking with the Person of Holy Spirit. It is a personal relationship carried out on a daily, moment-by-moment basis. (Related article: Can You Talk to the Holy Spirit? If so, How do I do it?).
We develop His fruit by developing our relationship with Him.
And we develop our relationship with Him through prayer, worship, studying the Word, and obedience to His Word.
Why is the fruit of the Spirit important?
The fruit of the Spirit is important because it is the manifestation of the character of God within us. It is the nature and image of God expressing Himself through our life.
We were created to manifest the image and the character of God. This is revealed in Genesis chapter 1.
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)
When man sinned we fell from this intention. We were unable to carry the image of God any longer because the nature of sin corrupted our original value.
This is why Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all fell short of God’s glory, which is His nature and image.
We were created to bear the glory of God upon the earth and our sin caused us to fail to do so.
But Jesus came to the earth “to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). He came to restore us back into the image of God. This is why after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, the apostle Paul could say,
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (Colossians 3:9-10)
We have been recreated. We are a new man restored back into the nature of God. We no longer need to fall short, for His righteousness and His Spirit enable us to walk out His nature.
This is why the fruit of the Spirit is important.
The fruit themselves are just titles of the different character traits of the Spirit of Christ within us, however, the growth and manifestation of them are the nature and image of God taking place through our whole being.
So every time we manifest love and not hate and unforgiveness, we are manifesting the image of God. Every time we express peace and joy, we are manifesting the image of God.
The more we walk in the Spirit the more we become like Him, and the more we become like Him the more we fulfill why we were created in the beginning.
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it assisted you in your walk with God.
If you want to read more articles on the fruit of the Spirit, you can do so by clicking one of the articles below.
What are the 9 Fruits of the Spirit? (and their Meanings)
What is the Purpose of the Fruits of the Spirit? (Explained)
God bless you all and enjoy!
