A Missing Piece

My Photo

In late summer my husband and I were driving up from a hotel near Sea-Tac Airport south of Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC Canada. We were on the I-5, and soon we could see the skyline. My son, loving travel and the vista driving provides, is a big fan of city panoramas. I often send him a skyline picture from whatever municipality we are passing. I made an attempt to capture Seattle’s full cityscape, which I thought included the iconic Seattle Space Needle. I quickly accessed the photo and noticed that the futuristic structure was not in the picture. I took another shot – no Space Needle! At that point we were past the mark to catch a still of the metropolis. I still can’t figure out how I failed to capture a picture including one of Seattle’s most notable places, particularly because I could see it in my viewer both times. As such, the image was not complete, and it was not a true depiction of the city when the towering landmark should have easily been visible alongside the skyscrapers and other buildings that did show up in the resultant image.

As believers in Jesus, there is a complete image that should be evident in each of us. That picture is comprised of virtues or characteristics known as the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)*. Why then do we so often fail to display the full view of who we are in Christ? The answer is found in the surrounding passage.

Before the Apostle Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, he writes out what he calls “the works of the flesh” (from Galatians 5:19, ESV). Acts such as sexual immorality, idolatry, jealousy, anger, rivalry, division, envy, and the like are against God’s law and are offensive to him. The desires of the flesh all bring incredible opposition to the desires of the Spirit as noted in verse seventeen. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17, ESV). So, what will allow the fruit to be clearly shown?

Joe Mabel Photo**

In several verses in the passage, we see that to manifest his fruit, we have to let our every move be guided and decided by the Holy Spirit. We walk by him (vs. 16). We are led by him (vs. 18). We live by him and keep in step with him (vs. 25). These active movements with the Spirit are integral to the full display of his fruit in our lives. According to commentary on verse sixteen in the Berean Study Bible commentary, “Dependence on the Spirit includes trusting God’s Word, yielding to his conviction, and rejecting patterns that belong to the former life.”***

Look once again at the list of the fruit of the Spirit. Do an honest assessment of your picture. Which fruit is more often than not hidden? Is there an obviously missing piece? Can others see all nine fruit in you? Just like the portrayal of the Seattle skyline in my photo had a missing piece, so too, when we do not manifest all the fruit of the Spirit, we do not show a complete picture of an individual in relationship with the Lord. We may not get it right all the time, but we can pray and ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit to grow any fruit that is lacking into a beautiful part of the full picture of our life in Christ.

*If you don’t already have CD5, Sing God’s Word – Spirit Among Us, listen to the 1-minute song sample, Track 16, The Fruit of the Spirit, for a fun way to learn Galatians 5:22-23, ESV. There is also an entertaining, short excerpt video performed to the song found on our promotional videos page. NOTE: if you’re thinking of purchasing any of our products, be looking for our Holidays discount starting Black Friday and running through the end of the year!

**Downtown Seattle Skyline; time/date: 1836 hours, 2 May 2020; Joe Mabel; zoomed in and further cropped

***Berean Study Bible, Email Us Walking by the Spirit, Galatians 5:16, “walk by the Spirit”

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