Challenging Verses: Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22-23
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 are difficult verses for Christians afflicted with mental illness, especially Bipolar, but these verses are so misunderstood by many. We may arduously strive all our lives to exhibit these fruits and feel defeated as we are reminded of our failure to do so in our daily lives. We pray to God to help us be more loving, joyful, peaceful, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self -controlled. We feel defeated because these fruits are so difficult to bear.
As daunting standards to exhibit in every day activity and toward any person we interact with, the mentally-ill Christians obsess on the defeat of not exhibiting these fruits. However, these verses are read wrong. It is not telling how we should live. It doesn’t remind us of our failures. It doesn’t show how inadequate we are. These verses are to reinforce us as believers in Jesus Christ and the fruits of the Spirit in us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and, as believers, the likeness of the life of Christ is already in us.
The context of the verses contrast the Spirit-filled life to the corrupted, marred worldly life. In Galatians 5:19-21, all the fruits of worldly life are ruled by the sins of the flesh. As we read further, the contrast between the Spirit-filled life and the worldly life is shown in the transformation by Christ to the opposition of the flesh. The purpose of these verses is not to command these characteristics, but rather, to exhibit the evidences of a Spirit-filled life.
In John 15:1-8, Jesus talks about the fruit of the believer. Jesus is the vine, and His followers are the branches. If we abide in Him, we will bear fruit. Like a real vine, the fruit is not produced by the branches, but is produced by the vine and its roots. Jesus is promising them and us that they will bear fruit by abiding in Him. It is a promise, not a command.
How does a mentally ill Christian abide in Christ? How do we live a Christ (Spirit) filled life? 1 John 2:24-27 gives us our first clue. The secret to abiding in Christ is to cling to Him. We need to read His Word. We can listen to it during times of struggle. We need to study His Word. We need to memorize His Word. This last one can be difficult for those afflicted, because our minds are wired differently. Please don’t be discouraged by memorization of scripture. I struggle greatly with memorization. I have placed large written scripture throughout my home. I have memorized short verses. We can use a scripture coloring book to assist in memorization. It is a difficult struggle but pays dividends of peace. Be surrounded by His Word every day. God’s Word is the key to bearing the fruit by abiding in Christ.