Who Are Your Gifts For?
While I have heard a lot of teachings about both of these topics individually and apart from each other, I personally have never heard anyone draw up an understanding of how the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit are supposed to balance each other out.
Over the years, I've probably heard about a thousand different teachings on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they're designed to operate through the believer's life, and while they are essential to the life of every Christian believer, they are all external to us. In other words, the gifts of the Spirit aren't actually given to us to benefit us, but they operate through our lives so that they can be a benefit for others within the body of Christ around us. They're for us to give to others for their benefit and upbuilding (see 1 Corinthians 12).
The fruit of the Spirit is for us, because it is grown on the inside of the Christian believer's life by the work of the cross (which we're each supposed to carry) and the formation of Jesus Christ's life being established in us by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). Just as there are nine gifts of the Spirit, there are also nine fruits of the Spirit, and they are made to balance out the life of the believer as they grow, mature, and become what God's destiny and purpose is for them.
Gifts Are Balanced by Character
However, one of the major problems within the body of Christ is that while there are many Christians chasing after the gifts of the Spirit, there's a severe lack in the character department, or the fruit of the Spirit, which is used to balance out the believer's life. The fruit of the Spirit is actually the very character of Jesus Christ, so when we are immature in the fruit, it tends to taint our gifts substantially, and the results are often a malfunction within the body of Christ as a whole. (Photo via Pixabay)
For example, those who operate in the gift of prophecy powerfully but don't have the mature fruit of love (agape) will often give tainted prophetic words (i.e., they'll give prophetic words along with soulish words) in the place of real prophetic insights. So instead of getting a pure word from God, you'll possibly get fifty percent pure word and fifty percent man's opinion. This isn't necessarily because those prophetic voices are trying to purposely deceive you (although I've seen that before); it's because they're immature in their fruit and out of balance in their personal relationship with God.
Be Mature in Love and Grow Fruit Relationally
Those who have matured in the love of God will tend to give you one hundred percent of what they hear from Jesus Christ without holding anything back, because they are secure in their relationship with Jesus Christ and have nothing to prove to anyone. This is why we're told to examine their fruit (Matthew 7:15–20) and not their gifts, because while the gifts are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), the fruit must be grown through intimate relationship with Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:1–8).
If you desire to move in more of the gifts of the Spirit of God, you should move closer and closer to Jesus Christ relationally, because your biggest enhancements to those areas of your life will come as His fruit rapidly grows up on the inside of your life. Your fruit should be balancing your gifts out, because if they're not, you'll find too much mixture between your soul and your spirit, and the results could become devastating for the recipients of what you say!
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Daniel Pontious
Every Believers Destiny
Email:Â Daniel.pontious@yahoo.com
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