Di Fruit of di Spirit

Nobody dey shout for apple tree make e bring apple. You no dey gum orange put for branch. Fruit dey grow, small small and quietly, when di tree healthy and im root deep well. Paul say di best things for person life dey grow like dat too.

Paul start churches for Galatia, one region for di high land of di place wey we dey call Turkey today. Since e comot, some teachers don come dey tell di Gentile believers say dem must keep di law of Moses before dem fit truly belong to God. Di churches don divide, dem dey argue. Paul don use most of im letter tell dem say dem dey free: God don make dem right through faith for Christ, no be by keeping rules. But person fit misuse freedom. So now e explain wetin Christian freedom dey for.

God call una to be free, brothers and sisters, Paul write. But no use una freedom as excuse to do anything wey una selfish side want. By love, make una serve one another. Because di whole law dey gather inside one command: love your neighbour as you love yourself. Then Paul give one warning wey almost sound like film about wild animals. If una dey bite and dey tear each other, make una take care, so una no go finish each other. If una no stop to snap and tear each other like wild animals, una go end up destroy each other. So, Paul talk, make una waka by di Spirit, and una no go do wetin di desire of di flesh want. Make God Spirit lead una, step by step.

Inside us, Paul talk, one tug of war dey. Our selfish nature want one thing, and di Spirit want another thing. And Paul describe wetin dey grow when di selfish side dey control. Di list no fine at all. To worship idols. Hatred. Fighting. Jealousy. Anger wey dey burst out. Selfish ambition. To divide into groups wey dey fight each other. Envy. Drunkenness and wild parties. And other things like dat. Paul warn say people wey continue to live like dat no go inherit God kingdom. See how many of dat things na about how we dey treat each other. Paul know exactly wetin dey happen for Galatia.

And then e describe di other harvest. But di fruit of di Spirit na love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: no law dey against dis kind things. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience wey dey last long. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. See say Paul talk fruit, no be fruits. One fruit, wey get plenty different taste, all dey grow together. No rule book fit ever forbid dis things. People wey belong to Christ Jesus, Paul talk, don nail dem selfish nature for cross. If we dey live by di Spirit, make we also waka by di Spirit. Make we keep step with am. And one last word for di churches wey dey argue: make we no become proud, make we no dey provoke one another, make we no dey envy one another.

Galatia get im name from di Galatians, Celtic people from Europe, family of di Gauls, wey move enter central Asia Minor about three hundred years before Paul. Later, Rome turn di region to one province, for di year twenty-five before Christ, and dem stretch am go south to include towns like Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, where Paul don preach. So di people wey Paul write to fit be Celtic, Greek, Jewish or Phrygian: real mixture of people, wey need to learn how to love one another.

Di fruit of di Spirit. You go find am for Galatians chapter five, verse thirteen to twenty-six. Churches wey dey bite and snap at each other, and one picture of wetin dey grow instead when God Spirit dey lead. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. Which part of di fruit of di Spirit you go like see dey grow for your life right now?