Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

The third fruit of the Spirit is Peace.  Not to be confused with silence, quiet, or inactivity as we often use the word, (ie: “Hold your peace” or “Rest in Peace”) the word means harmony, tranquility, security, or prosperity. Peace in a very literal and physical sense can be vividly seen in the Old Testament as can its connection to the Old Covenant. Close adherence through obedience to the terms of the Old Covenant meant harmony, tranquility, security and prosperity for Israel.   

The Hebrew word for Peace means “completeness.” This interpretation brings more significance to terms such as “Prince of Peace” or the “Peace of the Cross.” There is an element of wholeness and restoration that accompanies this word – Peace.  As angels announced the presence of peace on earth to shepherds in the field, one may better understand the proclamation of God’s purposes coming to completion and fruition with the arrival of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The lack of spiritual peace throughout the Old Testament as evidenced by a continual need for rituals and practices to combat impurity is the setting on which Christ arrives. So much striving, pain, oppression, and brokenness have plagued the world since the Fall of Man and now, finally there is peace on earth. Wait… what? Clearly one may look around at the various wars, famines, death and destruction still prevalent in the world today and claim that peace has not arrived. And one would be correct. Perhaps I will step on some eschatological toes here but this is my blog so I am allowed to do so. The establishment of a covenant as we see in the Old Testament does not guarantee its immediate fulfillment. In fact from start to finish, the Old Covenant lasted roughly 2000 years (Abraham to Jesus). But Jesus did in fact fulfill the Old Covenant and with that fulfillment and completion he brought peace. There is also the matter of spiritual completion and wholeness we find through the cross. 

The cross marked two covenantal milestones. The first feat was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the second was the establishment of a New Covenant.  Carrying our definition of peace into the New Covenant we can see that the elements of harmony, tranquility, security and prosperity are eternal qualities that hinge on our obedience to this New Covenant and its demand to believe in Jesus Christ. There is much parallel between the Old and New Covenants but that seems to be God’s pattern throughout the history of mankind. I would like to stop for one second and confront the issue of “prosperity” teaching. God does not ever promise us physical prosperity under the New Covenant, only eternal prosperity as our spiritual journey will not be barren, or devoid of fruit. We will be fruitful and multiply spiritually both in numbers and in personal growth and maturity. To promise physical or material prosperity (not to be confused with promises of meeting our needs) is to subject oneself to the terms of the old structure under a fulfilled covenant. We then profess that the Old Covenant is not in fact complete and in doing so negate the work of the cross. All that to say, please be cautious with prosperity teaching as the Kingdom of God is about bearing spiritual fruit not physical or monetary fruit.  And please do not think I am knocking those who are financially blessed either. God blesses each of us according to His good will and purpose and in a matter that best suits His Kingdom and its advancement. 

Returning to the matter of fulfilled covenant we see that there is freedom from the Law now that the Old Covenant has been fulfilled. The 2000 year journey from start to finish was fraught with times of prosperity and times of barrenness, times of justice, times of injustice, times of slavery and of freedom, times of immense wickedness and times of faithful adherence.  What are we to learn from this? Firstly, that God’s timetable is not our timetable. Secondly, as we sit precariously close to the end of yet another 2000 year period of covenant, peace hinges on our faith and belief in promises. There is peace to be found in God’s promises whether we ever see their fulfillment or not. Abraham believed, but never saw and he found peace. Moses believed, but never saw and yet remained faithful and he too found peace.  The prophets, in the face of great opposition believed and delivered the promises of God and they too found peace at the end of their suffering. There is great peace (eternal prosperity, tranquility, wholeness) available to those who would believe in God’s promises without seeing.

The fruit of the Spirit is often the object of much scrutiny and little legitimate practice.  This is unfortunate, but a balance of both analysis and application should be our ultimate desire. I have looked at the fruit in several ways. One approach is to dissect the fruit into digestible (pun intended) triads. If we analyze this first group of three as a triadic grouping we see the culmination of Trinitarian effort in Love, Joy, and Peace - Love of the Father, Joy of the Spirit, and Peace of the Son. Peace falls into place as a natural progression from God’s love, to joy in His presence to the peace found through fulfillment of His promises. Patterns are essential to me for memorization so there is no secret formula I am trying to prescribe here; simply a means which better incorporates the fruit into my life. Speaking of memory techniques, have you ever noticed that the peace sign is three prongs that converge into one? If all else fails just remember that peace is at the end of the first triad.  And so we arrive at the end of the first three fruit of the Spirit. I challenge you to love God more deeply so that you may experience His joy and that in His joy you may find the peace that comes through belief in His promises. I hope the journey thus far has not been overwhelming.

Upcoming fruit: Patience

               

Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

The fruit of the Spirit, joy, perplexed me as I studied and analyzed its presence amongst the fruit. I rapidly came to the conclusion that I did not know much joy and this troubled me. If I am a believer in Christ, knowing God's love then I should naturally be a partaker of joy. That statement is correct, but I erred in understanding the forms that joy takes and what happens to this joy resulting from love in a world plagued by sin.

My study veered to an indirect approach as I noticed the precarious balance in an existent relationship between joy and sorrow. Joy is inseparably linked to love and explains why love must precede joy. Love creates a fork in the road that branches into either joy or sorrow. We do not get to choose which path it takes as the direction pivots on what has been done with our love and how it has been received and returned. What should disturb an individual more than sorrow is a lack of either joy or sorrow as a recipient of a relational offense. Rushing too quickly into a state of peace (the next fruit in the series) fails to validate the presence of joy and so we must not be too anxious to arrive at peace. I found that this was my main failure in experiencing joy; too often I hurried beyond the discomfort and demands of joy.

What is joy? Many images flash through the mind as one meditates on joy. I thought of an overly exuberant cheerleader, an enthusiastic worship leader or the inappropriate and annoying optimist. Is there something wrong with me that I cannot fabricate this level of excitement? Do I not have joy? I searched Scripture for words of joy to help me understand its meaning. Joy is frequently expressed through singing, dancing and shouting. I sing. I sing a great deal. Perhaps my mental images of joy were impeding my recognition of legitimate expressions of joy in my every day life. I sing often to my children. I dance frequently with them. My children are a source of joy for me. This led me to contemplate new life and its rendering of joy. How do we create new life around us? Naturally my children fall into this category, but we humans are creative in a multitude of other ways. We cook, we paint, we write, we design. When I write I feel joy. I may not be bouncing off the walls with excitement (at least outwardly), but I am creating works and bringing words to life as I pen them.

Sorrow comes when the things we create or the life we experience and love ends. A child cries as a sand castle washes away with the tide. A writer grieves when words are not valued and lose meaning through the destructive overuse of cliches. A widow stares at a blank canvas, lost in how to possibly paint a future, the use of color almost mocking the drabness of the present. A mother clutches the lifeless body of her infant close to her breast not wanting to release all the hopes and dreams invested in this once vibrant young life. A young man laments the passing of his mother and all that taught him the formation of life-giving beauty. One thing they all have in common is that they have loved, and they have loved deeply. While there is great risk in choosing to love and bear the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, there is never even the remotest possibility of arriving at joy if one does not love. The greater one's love, the greater the joy that ensues. However, there is also the risk of experiencing great sorrow. There is at least this amidst the sorrow; you may know that you have loved and that is the beginning of all fruit. Joy amidst sorrow. I have known sorrow. I continue to know sorrow, but I am comforted through these feelings. I do not want to know a life that is devoid of the risk of sorrow and therefore empty of love.

The joy in one's life becomes an indicator of the level that we love as does sorrow. We lament loss of life in its many shapes and forms. We grieve the loss of hopes, dreams, creations, relationships, all indicators of the presence of life. But what of spiritual sorrow? Do I profess joy in the face of spiritual discouragement and pain? Disingenuous expression smacks of hypocrisy. What is spiritual joy and sorrow? If physical joy and sorrow is a result of loss of life or the failure to realize its fulfillment then that which is spiritual may follow suit. Spiritual life, the birth of the spirit through the life of Jesus Christ, is cause for great rejoicing in heaven. It stands to reason then that spiritual sorrow would be  the result of spiritual death or never realizing one's spiritual potential through Christ. This should grieve our spirits and cause great sorrow. If we are not grieved then perhaps we are not loving our fellow man as much as we ought to.

Our present day society and culture prides itself on the minimization of pain. We have an ache, we pop a pill. We hurt emotionally and we drink, self-medicate, or take an anti-depressant. We experience the discomfort and sorrow of labor and we hook up the IV's. None of these are wrong but often we are too quick to silence the symptoms without validating their existence and purpose. In the validation of their existence lies great joy. I have an ache, I have pushed myself to my physical limit, I gave it 100% and then some! I am hurt emotionally, I have loved deeply! I feel the pains of labor, I am bringing new life into the world! Joy hides in the unlikeliest of places. The next time you experience sorrow. take heart in that you have loved. And rejoice in the fact that one day we will be free to love, always knowing joy and never again experiencing sorrow.

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Rev 21:4

Upcoming fruit: Peace

Fruit of the Spirit

INTRODUCTION

After a year immersed in a study on the fruit of the Spirit, I can honestly say I am no closer to the perfection they exude than when I first began. Thus is the nature of the divine attributes of God and any attempt of the finite to traverse the infinite. What I did gain was a better understanding of what the fruit of the Spirit is and how to at least induce the birthing process in my life.

Throughout this intense study the most alarming observation I had was how painful it truly is to attempt to birth these nine fruits in a nature prone to sin and the desires of the flesh. My soul groaned with the pain and sorrow that plagues her origins as she fought to bring life to the seeds God planted. Frustration hounded my every endeavor to turn out the fruit.  Contractions of resistance wracked me to my core. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment the realization came to me, it was a process. I realized that I was never intended to cultivate the fruit on my own. I have a partner, one who walks by my side, one who coaches my breath simultaneously whispering encouragement to my spirit, one who holds my hand and bears down with me, one who intimately knows the pain and grief of childbirth. The pain and sorrow at that point eased, the labor did not. Labor has always been part of the process; pain and sorrow came later. There is still pain - during the moments when my sin nature prevails and my spirit resists. But I push forward, delighting in the labor that characterizes my humanity as created in God’s image and recognizing the existent pain that is not part of His design.

“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 

We decided to address the various fruit of the Spirit in the order of their appearance. As our study progressed the recognition of intentionality in order marked our perspective.  We cannot know whether or not Paul realized this at the time of his writing or whether it was pure inspiration of the Spirit. I begin where we began - with love. 

LOVE

Love is the firstborn of the fruit. Through the course of study it became increasingly apparent that each fruit of the Spirit is most clearly seen through the words and character of Jesus Christ. As the begotten Son of the Father through the power and work of the Holy Spirit it makes perfect sense then to see the fruit of the Spirit as analogous to the life of Christ.

In observation of the love Jesus spoke of and exemplified in every action, the very contemplation of bearing such a fruit is overwhelming. Would I sacrifice my life for others? Would I sacrifice my life for anyone??!! Do I follow the most basic commandment to love God with all my heart, soul and strength? (Deut. 6:5) An immediate conviction arose from the truth that loving others was impossible without first loving God. I may profess my love for another, I may pay homage by going through the motions, but sincere and genuine love can only be expressed out of a love that originates from above. In the words of John the Evangelist, “Love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8) Awareness of God’s love for us becomes the initiator for the remaining fruit of the Spirit. John takes recognition of love a step further and does not allow us to stop at just loving God. The fruit is evidence of our relationship with God, so that if we do not have love for others our devotion to God is called into question. Bearing the very first of the fruits already appears a daunting and impossibly long process. And you would be right if it were a labor to be tackled alone, but it is not. The empowerment of the Spirit makes it possible.  

As will be seen through the analysis of each fruit, the world is capable of mimicking and counterfeiting the fruit of the Spirit. It is the task of the believer in Christ to exercise wisdom in discerning the true fruit from that which merely looks like fruit. The manner in which we do this is to pursue knowledge of God as has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and through our relationship with Him. The more we know Christ the more we know true love. The world tells us that these specific words or those particular actions will show others that we love them, but if God is not at the very center of one’s affections it cannot truly be love. This is a hard truth, an uncomfortable truth - nay - a painful truth, but a truth nonetheless. The first step in cultivating the fruit of the Spirit, love, is to abide in God and in His love. I recommend reading carefully through 1 John (5 short chapters) for a better understanding of God’s love and its impact on our relationships with others. Much more can be said and will be said about love as it is an integral part of each subsequent fruit.

Upcoming fruit: Joy 

 

I Need to Blog...

...and so I am posting this meaningless picture so that I will be so annoyed that I am forced to update my blog sometime within the next week. We shall see if it works.