3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:3 ESV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
Editors Note: If I am committing some spiritual heresay by equating "spiritual blessing" with "fruit of the Spirit" please don't report me to the seminary police.
Note the tense of the verb in the second half of Ephesians 1:3. "Has" is present perfect tense. What?! PPT describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future.
God, through the atoning work of His son, Jesus Christ, blessed us in the past, continues to bless, and will bless us in the future with EVERY spiritual blessing.
When Seth, Kristi, and I go to a sushi restaurant, I feel like the narrator in the beloved children's book, Green Eggs and Ham. I will not eat it in a box. I will not eat it with a fox. I will not eat it here. I will not eat it any where. When presented with a choice of raw sea creatures my eyes wander to the "sides" portion of the menu. I end up getting a side of teriyaki chicken, a side of rice, and a side of noodles. While not as daring or metropolitan as kelp-wrapped eel or lightly sauteed cephalopod limb, I do enjoy the more pedestrian repast.
In the past I have been guilty of looking at the fruit of the spirit as an ala carte menu. Today I will need some self-control, with a side of gentleness, and a couple of helpings of peace. I will pass on the faithfulness today and go light on the joy. But according to Paul in Ephesians, as God's children we have already been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing.
Our plate is brim full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no need to pray a portion of any of the items listed in the fruit of the spirit. God has and continues to bestow them on Christians.
What practical application does this have? When we fail to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, it is not because we are lacking that attribute, but because we have not allowed God to manifest it in our lives. We have allowed the old nature to trump the new nature that has been bestowed on us at the point of salvation.
Jesus Christ saved not just from an eternity of separation from Him, but He also saved us from a broken relationship with God the Father. Jesus' death and resurrection made restoration of that relationship possible. And with that we have the power through Jesus to exhibit the fruit of the spirit on a daily, hourly basis. It won't always be easy, and we will most likely fail multiple times a day, but it is not because we lack the spiritual blessings, our old nature just keeps rearing its ugly head.
Pray each day that today more of the fruit will be apparent to those around you than was present yesterday. Anticipate those situations or people who make it difficult to be patient, kind, or peaceful. Get prayed up. The fruit is within. Allow God to help apply that fruit each day to each situation.
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