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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1286828
The passage goes on to say: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ "(verses 5-8, 10-11). If you ever need inspiration to walk in the fruit of the spirit, reread those verses often. They list many wonderful benefits. When you abound in the fruit, you enter into the best God has planned for you. Operating in them empowers you to fulfill your divine call. You’ll remain spiritually sure-footed and avoid destructive falls. Best of all, according to these verses, when you’ve finished your earthly assignment, you’ll enjoy an abundant entrance into God’s everlasting kingdom! What does it mean to have an abundant entrance into His kingdom? For one thing, it means you won’t just barely make it into heaven by the skin of your teeth. And you won’t get there empty-handed with nothing to show for the life you lived here. When you step out of this natural realm into the glory realm because you cultivated and walked in the fruit of the spirit here on earth, you’ll have eternal rewards awaiting you. You’ll have a big welcoming party gathered there to greet you. Lots of people will be flocking around you telling you how glad they are to see you. You’ll have family members and friends there. People you’ve loved and ministered to will be celebrating your arrival in heaven and telling you how, while they were on earth, they were influenced by all the fruit of the spirit they saw in your life! The Fruit + the Gifts = Maximum Power The gifts of the Spirit are exciting and spectacular, and the Church definitely needs them (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). They’re extremely valuable. But unlike the fruit, the gifts don’t manifest whenever you want them to. You can’t get up every morning and say, “I believe I’ll walk in the word of wisdom and the gift of miracles today.” No, the gifts manifest only as the Holy Spirit wills (1 Corinthians 12:11). They function only in certain situations. You can’t live on the gifts. People who try end up getting into trouble. We’ve all heard the stories. We’ve heard about tongue-talking Christians who regularly prophesied in church on Sundays and yet, somehow, ended up falling into a lifestyle of sin. We’ve even heard, on occasion, about a truly anointed minister of God who had great healings and miracles taking place in his or her meetings and then got involved in some kind of illicit affair. What opened the door to those tragedies? How could such seemingly spiritual believers end up going so wrong? The answer is simple. Those believers operated in spiritual gifts, but they didn’t have much spiritual fruit. So they didn’t have the strength to overcome the pressures of temptation. As a result, when the devil came after them, they succumbed to his attack. They ended up going on a fleshly detour that left them shipwrecked and robbed them of part of God’s purpose for their lives. BVOV : 29