THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Often the above passage is used as an exhortation (or weapon?) to bring about change in another person. If you’re feeling down one day, you might hear, “The fruit of the Spirit is joy!” Unintentional or not, the implication is that you are not “walking in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). You’re certainly not “filled with the Spirit . . . . . . singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord!” (Ephesians 5:18, 19). So now you can add to your blues the guilt of spiritual failure!

In my sixty-one years of being a Christian, and my nearly forty-seven years in the ministry,  I have not noticed people being changed because they were told they fall short of the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, it seems highly unlikely that any Christian fully manifests every character quality of the fruit of the Spirit at any given time. Paul is simply pointing out that these good things come from the Spirit of God, while the bad things are “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21). And the Christian life is always a warfare, “so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Gal. 5:17) (See also Romans 7:18-21)

Since I have been in the Philippines, however, I have seen how the fruit of the Spirit has worked to change people’s lives—including my own. The Christians here have treated me with love, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, and gentleness, and that has brought out better things in me.

I have seen that “the fruit of the Spirit” can indeed be an agent of change. It is through manifesting those spiritual qualities toward others, especially those most irritating. After all, how can we show “longsuffering (patience)” except to those who try our patience? Christians struggling with stubborn sins, need love and gentleness. They need to see goodness in action.

So the agent of change in others is not the imposing of the fruit of the Spirit on them, but the modeling of the fruit of the Spirit in ourselves.

WITH JESUS IN PARADISE

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)

What Jesus promised the repentant thief is wonderful in several particulars.

First, the thief, recognizing that Jesus was the King, the promised Messiah, asked to be remembered when Jesus assumed the throne of that kingdom. He could hardly have expected that it would be soon since the King was on a cross! But he must have believed also in the resurrection. Jesus honored the man’s repentance and faith and made him a promise he did not expect: “Today, you shall be with me in paradise.” This very day!

Paradise is a Persian word that means “a walled garden, a place of pleasure.” The word occurs three times in the New Testament, where it always refers to heaven. (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). The word is also used eleven times in the Greek version of the Old Testament, where it refers to the Garden of Eden.

I’ve seen some lovely gardens in my life, from London, England, to Hanover, Germany, to Baguio City, Philippines. In all their well-tended beauty, they are but faint hints of what God’s Garden is like. Our cursed ground bears thorns and thistles and weeds. Insects destroy our loveliest blossoms. But in “The Garden of God” all is unblemished beauty.

Heaven is a place of pleasure, greater than any we can imagine here. Some writers on heaven have diminished the richness of heavenly pleasures by imposing our limited earthly experiences on the heavenly. If we are to use our imagination, as one popular writer urges, why can’t we imagine that God will so transform and elevate our sense of pleasure to a spiritual level we have never before experienced?

As king, David indulged in earthly pleasures—to his sorrow and disgrace. But the contemplative shepherd David knew that, “in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11) Alister McGrath points out that to see God is the greatest hope of every godly person:

“To speak of heaven is to affirm that the human longing to see God will one day be fulfilled—that we shall finally be able to gaze upon . . . the most wondrous sight anyone can hope to behold.” (A Short History of Heaven, Alister McGrath)

Yet the greatest part of the promise Jesus made to the thief was this: “you will be with Me!” Ponder that thought! In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side” (a place of comfort). But Jesus, dying on a cross, promises this thief His own glorious presence as they both pass into paradise!

In this life, at home in the body yet absent from the Lord, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7). But when God calls us home, surely the greatest joy will His presence:

“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have Jesus’s promise, “You will be with Me in paradise.” There is a home for us.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)