Counsel of Spiritual Life

Counsel #2 — What Fruits?

Picture: Counsel #2 — What Fruits? CSL 44.1

When you give yourself to God, your old sinful life and nature dies, and your new life is hidden with Christ in God (see Colossians 3:3). This means that the sins you practiced before giving your heart^[39] to Jesus, you no longer do through His power. Now you “bear fruit”—your life begins to look like the life of Jesus.^[40] This is a miracle that the Holy Spirit brings about, a sanctifying^[41] transformation that lasts a lifetime. CSL 44.2

But you won’t work on these fruits one at a time. For instance, you wouldn’t say, “Today I’m going to add the fruit of self-control to my life.” Rather, your goal is to be like Jesus in all aspects of your life. A better prayer might be, “Jesus, today I give you my heart and life again. Please renew me that I can live like You in every way.” CSL 44.3

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22, 23 NKJV CSL 44.4

“When we live by faith in the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our life; not one will be missing.” Ellen White in The Desire of Ages, p. 676 CSL 44.5

Reflect: Would the people closest to you describe you as Christ-like? Why or why not? CSL 44.6