Gifts of the Spirit and Spiritual Fruit
Based on material from Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church
What Does the Bible Say?
The Holy Spirit:
In John 14:16-17, Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”
The Holy Spirit is an invisible reality. Technology has made this concept easier to understand. All around us, invisible reality is moving and being used. Television, internet, and cell phone signals are all around us. We cannot see or feel them, yet we do not deny their reality or their impact on our every day lives. Likewise, the Holy Spirit cannot be touched, seen, or heard (unless He chooses otherwise) yet evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work is seen in the lives of God’s people.
Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is a person. Unlike impersonal energy, which can be harnessed and used for good, bad, or even trivial purposes, the Holy Spirit is a person whom we relate to, not something we use. The Holy Spirit is the ongoing, living, personal presence of God in our lives.
Spiritual Fruit:
Paul says, in Galatians 5:22-23: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is the changes He makes in us. These changes involve making ours hearts and our character more and more like Christ. The moment we accept Jesus’ gift of salvation, the Holy Spirit enters into our lives and begins transforming us from the inside out, giving us lives that reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Gifts of the Spirit:
As we learn to give our lives to Christ, He invites us to serve with Him to bring about the will of God. As we serve with Christ, He gives us gifts and talents that we need to accomplish the tasks He assigns us. We were born with some of these gifts and talents. But sometimes, God gives us gifts and talents we never knew we had. Sometimes these gifts and talents correspond with natural abilities. Sometimes we are supernaturally equipped with gifts we did not possess before. Both types are gifts of the Spirit, who gives us everything we need to accomplish what Christ assigns to us.
What is the difference between the fruit of the Spirit
and the gifts of the Spirit?
1. The fruit of the Spirit is always the same. The Holy Spirit desires to develop in each Christian a character that is like Christ’s. When that character is developed, it will include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which is the fruit of the Spirit.
2. The gifts of the Spirit are almost always different. The Holy Spirit equips each Christian with a unique set of gifts and talents. There may be similarities in the gifts and talents different Christians have, but God never makes an exact copy or replica of a person.
3. The fruit of the Spirit is the goal. The fruit of the Spirit is the goal of the Christian journey. Developing a Christ-like journey is a life long goal.
4. The gifts of the Spirit are the way of achieving the goal. The gifts of the Spirit are given to help us and others toward the goal of a Christ-like character.
5.The fruit of the Spirit is about who we are becoming. The fruit of the Spirit defines what a Christian is, or is at least becoming. It is about the kind of person God wants us to be for eternity.
6.The gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are about how we serve God, this side of eternity. Some gifts, such as teaching and preaching are only temporary gifts, because they will not be needed in heaven.
