On the 9th day of Christmas...

On the ninth day of Christmas, the Father gave to all --
  the fruits of the Spirit, 
  the beatitudes of Christ,
  rest from our duties,
  the days of creation,
  the miracle of the loaves,
  the truth of the Gospels,
  prayers at Gethsemane,
  the veil torn in two, 
  and His Son to save us from our sins. 

The LORD worked in an amazing way in Paul's life, and he became a powerful missionary sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in the early years of the church.  He often wrote letters to believers in various parts of the world he traveled, and in one particular letter to the Galatians, he wrote about the fruit of the Spirit.  

Galatians 5:22-23 NASB

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Previously, in the chapter, Paul had spent time discussing how the flesh and Spirit work in opposition to each other.  He then enumerates the deeds of the flesh that we are to avoid and resist. 

Galatians 5:16-21 NASB  
¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

In verse 22, it should be noted that the it's not the fruitS of the Spirit.  Instead, it is the fruit of the Spirit.  It is singular.  In our lives, walking with the Spirit and against the flesh we should bear fruit with many positive properties, all working together to accomplish the work of the LORD through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

For further reading, you can consider this commentary entitled Freedom for Moral Transformation found on the Bible Gateway.  It's quite long, but it felt like a good springboard for beginning a deeper understanding of the fruit.

My thought is simpler.  I *want* to bear this fruit.  I want my life to show this fruit.  I want to show love, I want to be filled with joy, I want to be at peace... and the list goes on.  But while grieving, I definitely struggle for my fruit to demonstrate all of these properties.  

So, I have to learn to fix my eyes on Jesus instead of my problems.  An easy-sounding task, to be sure, but a tough one to implement daily.  

Maybe you are like me.  Maybe you want this too, but you find yourself struggling?

I pray right now that the LORD would give you clear guidance for the fruit coming out of your faith.  I pray that you would lean on the LORD as you strive toward trusting the Spirit and denying the flesh.  I pray that your eyes would be fully fixed on Jesus, so that you can walk on water when He calls you out of the boat.  I pray that your trust would be fully in the LORD, the Creator of all things.  

*Graphic at beginning of page is from the website The Graphics Fairy.  All credit for the lovely image belongs to them.