I think anyone who has been around church long enough knows the fruit of the Spirit (and if you’ve worked with kids, you know it’s not a watermelon). We know that the Spirit produces in us Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. If the Spirit produces those things, and we’re told to walk in the Spirit, what, exactly does walking in the Spirit look like?
I think Ephesians gives us a good example of what walking in and being filled by the Spirit looks like:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 4:15-21)
Are you lacking in the fruits? Maybe compare yourself to Paul’s words: do you address (encourage, exhort) other believers with Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs? This is something that is difficult for many, but there’s a reason why this is so important! Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (yes, even new songs are wonderful, Paul approves!), express joy and anguish, anxiety, fear and worry, praises to God, and in all of it, looks to God as being the ultimate help and object of worship.
Are you full of songs that you sing to the Lord? With this one, I imagine children, who can’t help themselves: they sing! I remember when my youngest was a toddler; he would sing songs that sounded like gibberish, and when I asked him what he was singing, he would say “I know the song, I just don’t know the words yet!” It’s part of what Paul talks about when he says “Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again I will say rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) In every and any circumstance, I can sing praise to God!
Do you give thanks to God always and for everything? Again, Paul says “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Perhaps we lack the Peace that the Spirit wants to produce in us because we are not living a life of gratitude. In every and any circumstance, learn to be grateful (Philippians 4:10-13 has a lot to say on this, but I’ll let you go and read that for yourself!).
Lastly: are you submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ? This, I think is the most difficult for me, and, indeed, for many believers. We want to be in control, and so we struggle and strive with one another. What can submission teach us about God? Well, consider this: if we can’t submit to one another, who we can see, how will we submit to Christ who we have not seen, and to those whom He has appointed to lead His Church? Submission is a Christ-like quality that many want to bypass, but Paul says “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).
We see examples of this in the Triune God when the Son submits to the Father, Jesus submits to the Holy Spirit (when He was led into the wilderness to be tempted), and the Father hears the Son and grants His request (I could talk all day on this, but we don’t have time for so much Scripture!).
The point of all of this is to say this: if we want to be filled with the spirit, we should recognize the qualities that Scripture shows us, seeking to emulate Christ in that walk. It’s not about what WE can do, but about what the Holy Spirit, through Christ Jesus in submission to the Father wants to do through us. All glory, honor and praise to His name! May you walk continually in Christ as you are being filled with the Spirit
Colossians 3:1-17
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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