The Genesis Directive: Be Fruitful (Part 2)

The Apostle Paul tells us that in order to produce the Spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and  self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) we must continually and consistently  "walk in the Spirit."

What does it mean to "walk in the Spirit"? Basically it means to choose who or what motivates and activates our emotions, thoughts, and actions. It means to begin to be conscious of how we are choosing to live each moment, and what (or who) is determining those choices. Our lives are not lived in random motion – we are constantly listening to our internal “director” or “direction finder.” Like the new “never lost” GPS systems in cars; that voice that directs you to “turn right in 2.3 miles” or informs you that “I’m recalculating your route. Make a legal u-turn as soon as possible” when you’ve made a wrong turn.

We too have “internal direction guides.” The scriptures call them the flesh, the enemy, and the Holy Spirit. The desires of the flesh distract us from producing the good fruit by causing us to focus only on our own wants and appetites. We become self-centered and produce shriveled fruit that leaves us hungry and empty. The deceptions of the enemy betrays our fruitfulness and poisons and perverts the fruit of our lives, resulting in hollow, sour, and often harmful produce. Only the Spirit of God leads us into true fruitfulness -- fruit that satisfies our souls and blesses others.  To walk in the Spirit means to choose to listen to and then follow THAT voice which is based in God's Word and Will.

How do we know which voice we are listening to? By paying attention! By taking a few moments at the end of each day to review the choices we have made during the day, we will begin to discover the patterns that provoke our feelings and actions. Who do we tend to listen to when we are tired, stressed, or lonely? What initiates our words when we are feeling insecure or unsure? What motivates us when we are sure, confident, and able? Who is in control when we are angry, upset, or frustrated? And how did those choices makes us feel at the end of the day? ? Learning our patterns enables us to become more aware in the moment of the voice we are listening to and the direction we are following.

Paul told the Galatians that we can generate the works of the flesh (sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness…) or the fruit of the Spirit. God’s first blessing was not to “work and multiply” but to “be fruitful and multiply.” Let's begin to pay closer attention to our own GPS system -- God's Productive Spirit!