It is always dutiful as a follower of Christ to glorify the Holy Spirit. The greatest power on Earth is the Holy Spirit, and we as Christians must glorify him in spirit and in truth every moment of our lives. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”. [John 4:24, ESV].
If you want to be spiritually developed and victorious in every facet of your life as a Christian, then you need to keep Him in your heart. The Holy Spirit cannot be put in the back seat or deprioritized in your life.
You will need to be in the spiritual flow with Him everywhere. Start right away by growing the Fruit of the Spirit in your spiritual life. How do we firm up the nine-fold fruits of the Fruit of the Spirit?
To run through, here are the nine-fold Fruits of the Spirit – “But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against such things there is no law.” [Galatians 5:22-23, ESV ].
To bear and grow the Fruit of the Spirit in your life, you have to attach to the stem of the vine – the vine is Christ and also the stem.
Attaching to the stem of the vine allows you to grow spiritually. That attachment is you. The more spiritually you are, the more fruitful your branch grows to bear spiritual fruits from you – thus the Fruits of the Spirit.
At this point, let us remind ourselves that the Fruit of the Spirit is not the Holy Spirit himself. However, the result of the HOLY SPIRIT’S presence within us as believers in Christ Jesus is the divine character traits cultivated in us as Christians.
Jesus reminded us also that without him we cannot do anything; that is why he encouraged his followers to abide in him, using the vine tree as an example.
Here is the scripture reference in the book of John Chapter 15:4 – ”I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” And in verse 8: ”By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples.”
Abiding is obedience, and when you do, you are watering the Fruit of the Spirit. If you are not abiding, you are not bearing. We bear fruit by abiding and attaching ourselves to the vine – Christ Jesus. In this way, we cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit, watering the character to grow – and the result is the Holy Spirit who resides in us.
And so here is the Gospel truth from the first book of Corinthians, which strengthens us about the Holy Spirit’s residency in us as Christ followers. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, ESV].
The only way to fulfill the nine fruits of the Fruit of the Spirit is to walk in spirit and in truth to welcome the Holy Spirit’s presence in you – there’s no other better way I can put it.
As Christians, all our efforts are to do what is righteous, holy and good, for these are the works of the Holy Spirit within us. To a large extent, I am greatly persuaded that any effort I make to do right is a sign of the holiness of God’s grace at work in me.
Hence, let us acknowledge that, as Christians, we cannot please the Lord God without continually activating the Holy Spirit within us. It is our spiritual duty as Christians to show forth all the good virtues to bear FRUITS that CHRIST has planted in us to allow the HOLY SPIRIT to reside in us for divine holiness.
Since the Lord God loves us so much, He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to take residency in our hearts, if we will receive it by Faith and with works.
It is a promise – the Spirit produces fruit, such as love, joy, and peace, representing power over the flesh.
Keep abiding and keep your Faith and Hope alive.
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