The Fruitful Life

Our next adult Sunday School class will begin Sunday, August 25. We will study the fruit of the Spirit using Jerry Bridges book The Fruitful Life: The Overflow of God’s Love Through You.

Jesus told the Pharisees that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself (Matthew 22:37-39). The Apostle Paul also told the Galatian church that the whole law is fulfilled by our loving our neighbor as ourself (Galatians 5:14).

But how can we love our neighbors joyfully and gracefully as Christ and Paul exhort us when we’re so busy battling the old patterns of our sinful behavior? Paul tells the Galatian church that they should walk by the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:16a,22-23).

All Christians possess all nine fruit of the Spirit to some degree. Bridges shows us how to understand and cultivate each fruit in our daily lives and helps us devote our lives to the twofold pursuit of God-centeredness and God-likeness. God doesn’t bestow what He Himself does not possess, so our study will emphasize how each fruit characterizes God’s own Being as well as how we can exhibit each fruit through the power of His Holy Spirit.