The Fruit or The Gifts — Part 2
In Part 1, we established the difference between the gifts and the fruit. Now here is where it gets personal.
Now, what will you do with a man or woman who has the gift of healing but is prideful? What is the use of a man or woman who can perform miracles but has no teachable spirit? What is the essence of speaking in diverse tongues without self-control?
Are you getting it now?
This is not to say that gifts are unimportant. In fact, the Apostle Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “eagerly desire the gifts”. The gifts are God's tools for building His Church, and they are to be valued. The ideal, therefore, is a believer who is pursuing both, a life of spiritual gifting and a life of genuine character. However, where character is absent, gifting alone is not only insufficient, it is dangerous, especially in marriage.
Gifts can be misused. They can even be counterfeited. A false prophet can appear gifted before a congregation. But no one can consistently fake longsuffering, gentleness, or kindness in the close quarters of a home. Fruit, when it is real, shows up in private, in how a person speaks to you after a hard day, in how they handle disappointment, in how they treat you when no one is watching.
The anointing without the fruit is a disaster. So many homes are in turmoil because there are Christians without the fruit of the Spirit living in them. You can sustain your marriage without the gifts, but you cannot sustain your marriage without the fruit. When you are faced with pressure in marriage, what will sustain your home is the fruit.
So before you are swept away by what someone can do in the church, ask yourself, what are they becoming at home?
Finally, the Bible says, “By their fruit you shall know them.” The fruit is what distinguishes believers from others. If you have the gifts without the fruit, then your anointing is questionable.
In Part 1, we established the difference between the gifts and the fruit. Now here is where it gets personal.
Now, what will you do with a man or woman who has the gift of healing but is prideful? What is the use of a man or woman who can perform miracles but has no teachable spirit? What is the essence of speaking in diverse tongues without self-control?
Are you getting it now?
This is not to say that gifts are unimportant. In fact, the Apostle Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “eagerly desire the gifts”. The gifts are God's tools for building His Church, and they are to be valued. The ideal, therefore, is a believer who is pursuing both, a life of spiritual gifting and a life of genuine character. However, where character is absent, gifting alone is not only insufficient, it is dangerous, especially in marriage.
Gifts can be misused. They can even be counterfeited. A false prophet can appear gifted before a congregation. But no one can consistently fake longsuffering, gentleness, or kindness in the close quarters of a home. Fruit, when it is real, shows up in private, in how a person speaks to you after a hard day, in how they handle disappointment, in how they treat you when no one is watching.
The anointing without the fruit is a disaster. So many homes are in turmoil because there are Christians without the fruit of the Spirit living in them. You can sustain your marriage without the gifts, but you cannot sustain your marriage without the fruit. When you are faced with pressure in marriage, what will sustain your home is the fruit.
So before you are swept away by what someone can do in the church, ask yourself, what are they becoming at home?
Finally, the Bible says, “By their fruit you shall know them.” The fruit is what distinguishes believers from others. If you have the gifts without the fruit, then your anointing is questionable.
The Fruit or The Gifts — Part 2
In Part 1, we established the difference between the gifts and the fruit. Now here is where it gets personal.
Now, what will you do with a man or woman who has the gift of healing but is prideful? What is the use of a man or woman who can perform miracles but has no teachable spirit? What is the essence of speaking in diverse tongues without self-control?
Are you getting it now?
This is not to say that gifts are unimportant. In fact, the Apostle Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “eagerly desire the gifts”. The gifts are God's tools for building His Church, and they are to be valued. The ideal, therefore, is a believer who is pursuing both, a life of spiritual gifting and a life of genuine character. However, where character is absent, gifting alone is not only insufficient, it is dangerous, especially in marriage.
Gifts can be misused. They can even be counterfeited. A false prophet can appear gifted before a congregation. But no one can consistently fake longsuffering, gentleness, or kindness in the close quarters of a home. Fruit, when it is real, shows up in private, in how a person speaks to you after a hard day, in how they handle disappointment, in how they treat you when no one is watching.
The anointing without the fruit is a disaster. So many homes are in turmoil because there are Christians without the fruit of the Spirit living in them. You can sustain your marriage without the gifts, but you cannot sustain your marriage without the fruit. When you are faced with pressure in marriage, what will sustain your home is the fruit.
So before you are swept away by what someone can do in the church, ask yourself, what are they becoming at home?
Finally, the Bible says, “By their fruit you shall know them.” The fruit is what distinguishes believers from others. If you have the gifts without the fruit, then your anointing is questionable.
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