I smiled at her comment at that time, but later I kept thinking about how many times God says to me the same thing: I’m really trying to help you here!
Have you ever asked God to help you? I’m sure you have. Lord help me be more patient! Lord help me be more loving and kind! Lord help me persevere! Then the next thing you know, you are angry, frustrated and nothing about you seems loving or kind. So what is happening? Does He not want to help us? He does, but not the way we want Him to most of the time.
Trying harder to be patient, loving and kind is impossible. You can’t do it. I can’t do
it. Love, joy, peace kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control are the fruit of the Spirit. The key word is FRUIT, not work. You can’t DO anything to get it. It is a fruit that
comes from the Spirit of the Lord. If you accept Jesus’ free gift of grace and trust Him to pay the pay the price for your eternity, He gives you the Holy Spirit God.
So if we have the Spirit of the Lord, where is the fruit, you might ask? Why don’t we display these fruits all the time? What is it so hard?
Romans 8:5 says: “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Having our mind set on what the Spirit desires is simple, but not easy. The Holy Spirit is always going to help us focus on what Christ has done for us. He is the center, He is the hero, He is the one who loves us unconditionally. Focus on Jesus’ acceptance of you, given to you as a gift. He accepts you regardless of the amount of spiritual fruit you have produced. It is called GRACE. The beautiful thing about God’s work, is that the more you realize what His gift means to us, the more fruitful we will become.
Have your mind set on Jesus. Rest in His love and acceptance. “The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” (John 15:5)
Stop trying harder. Take a deep breath and enjoy His love for you. He will help us as long as we focus on Him.
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
He is the one who does the work. He has a plan and He will accomplish it here on earth, and also in us. Jesus said: It is finished! Rest in His Sovereignty and His love for you.