Gifts vs. Fruit

There are many who are following leaders with gifts of the Spirit but no fruit of the Spirit. It is easy to be drawn to charm, to begin to worship magnetic personalities, and to confuse crass speech for boldness.

When we make idols out of religious personalities who embody the qualities of worldly celebrities, we can confuse the Spirit working through a person and the Spirit working in a person.

Remember Matthew 7: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.'"

God will let people build His house who He will not allow inside of it.

Galatians five tells us that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Bible tells us what gifts of the Spirit are in 1 Corinthians 12:

"To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.

Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have."

Jesus made it clear there are those who will do great things for the kingdom who will not inherit it.

When asked what the two greatest commandments are, He said to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

How do you treat people?

Remember this passage from 1 Corinthians 13:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Peace. Gentleness. Self-control.

When asked what the two greatest commandments were, Jesus talked about loving God fully and loving your neighbor. These two thing are close to the heart of Jesus.

Notice He did not say buildings, crowds, social media reach, or any of the metrics human beings use to measure success. None of those things are bad on their own.

Of course He wants to do great things through us to reach the lost.

But without love, it is nothing. Without the fruit of the Spirit, it's nothing.

A person can lead thousands to the kingdom of God and never see it for themselves.

A person can release perfect prophecies and never meet the One who put them in their mouth.

A person can fill stadiums and never meet the One who anointed them to do so.

Stop letting man be your audience. Stop being impressed by the things the world is impressed by.

Let the Holy Spirit develop fruit in us so one day we can hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

The gifts are not enough.

The gifts are not the fruit.

Let God work on you.