Don’t most of us think that the fruit of the Spirit is something we need to attain to, desire more fervently, and try harder to produce? --Something we don’t have much of at all? Or, we have a bit of this one or that, and scarcely others on the list?
• “God, help me to be more patient with my children.”
• “God, my life feels pretty joy-less. I want more of your joy.”
• “God, help me to be more kind to ___________.”
In each case, the assumption is that we either don’t have the particular fruit or that we have so little of it that we fear we’re disappointing God. But what if this isn’t the case? Since Jesus goes directly after the heart when he rescues the person, we should begin to assume some very different things about ourselves:
• We have new hearts. …and God only gives what is most like himself. Good, pure, radiant, vibrant. - That’s what our heart is like even now, despite the fact that this new goodness may appear obscured.
• Your new heart now wants what Jesus himself wanted. You want to live in his goodness. (It’s a much better alternative to the cycle of addiction and shame.)
• Because you have a new heart, you now possess the character of Christ, already. And this is called the “fruit of the Spirit.”
• This fruit is already within you …substantially, though you may be unaware of it.
• What God wants to do through his Spirit is to nourish and release that fruit in increasing measure.
To discover more about your new heart, read excerpts from Jim’s new book, Recover Your Good Heart. Click here.