I often wonder why self-discipline is the last of the fruit of the Holy Spirit recorded in Galatians 5. As I look at my life, I really need that to be moved up the list.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Maybe all the other 8 need to be in place so that self-control has a chance of manifesting. I have heard one person share that the first 3 involve your orientation to the Lord, the second set of 3 involve your orientation to others and the last 3 involve your relationship to yourself.

That is an interesting thought.

Love, joy and peace are precious gifts from the Lord and in a growing close relationship to the Lord, these 3 certainly are present. Patience, kindness and goodness certainly would not be what I need to express to God, I think those 3 would be more apt to be expressed to others.

Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control then, must be what I would extend to myself, to bless myself with a clear conscience and satisfaction. Not that I produce these for just me. These 3 make it possible for a person to live with themselves. Of course, the Lord and others would benefit from that, but primarily it seems these would most enhance our ability to be who God intends for us to be.

Remember, these are fruit or evidence that the Holy Spirit is active in our life.

Also remember these are not the things that the Holy Spirit wants you to work on. That is not mentioned in the passage. I believe that as a person continues to seek the Lord and ask for the Holy Spirit to work in them, these are the places He puts His emphasis. The Holy Spirit opens the door in life circumstances for His expression of His personality in you.

So… relax, God is actively working on you and shaping your heart. I believe the key is to open up more and actively ask the Holy Spirit to manifest in these places.

He will be self-controlled in you if you can make room for Him to be just that.

He lives in you and speaks to you constantly. He leads you in the development of your character and speaks to you all the time about it. The Holy Spirit is never tired, and He never gets tired of you. He never misses one single opportunity to raise the standard for the development of heaven’s culture in you.

Think of it this way, as the Holy Spirit lives in you…

The Holy Spirit loves you and wants you to know that.
The Holy Spirit is filled with joy, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is filled with peace, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is eternally patient with you, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is kind to you, and he will never stop being kind to you, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is always good to you. He will never stop being good to you, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is faithful to do everything that the Father says to do to bless you, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit is remarkably gentle with you, and He wants you to feel that.
The Holy Spirit has supernatural self-control and only leads and guides you into the will of the Father, and He wants you to feel that.

The way to feel or sense these things is to recognize that these are characteristics of God in you. He wants you to know Him relationally and inside your relationship with Him, these will surface. If you seek the knowledge of God without the relationship – these will be churchy concepts with no substance. 

Let there be substance in you!

Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior from the penalty of sin. Thank You for the precious gift of the Holy Spirit who develops in us the very culture of Heaven before we even get there. Thank You for Your love and grace.

Blessings

Pastor D