Highways to Zion

How blessed is the man...in whose heart are the highways to Zion!

Psalm 84:5

Artificial fruit - we've all seen it, maybe even have a bowl of it on a buffet or hutch. It looks nice, but isn't the real thing. If you bit into it, you would be sorely disappointed. It would have no flavor and no nutritional value. It might even be harmful.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul listed a number of character traits that he said were fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (See Gal. 5:22-23.) As I consider these, I have to wonder if some of my fruit is artificial. There are times when I act patient, but feel impatient inside. There are times when I do kind things without a shred of genuine compassion underneath. There are times when I faithfully continue to do something long after all desire has faded.

If my godly actions do not come from matching feelings inside, does that make me a hypocrite? Is my fruit artificial? Is it necessary to feel patient in order to be patient? Is it imperative that I feel great compassion in order to act in kindness? Is it vital that I want to continue doing something to faithfully continue doing it? I think not. With the possible exception of joy, the traits listed as fruit of the Spirit are more readily defined as ways of behaving than as emotions. (And even joy is viewed as something we can choose to do: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" Phil. 4:4.)

When we act in obedience to the commands of God instead of letting our emotions direct us, we demonstrate that we are, in fact, "crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires," which is exactly what the next verse says (v.24). Doing what we know is right rather than what we'd like to do is the essence of dying to self.

I believe God wants our hearts to have the same concerns for others as He has, and that is part of the goal of sanctification. But we are fallen and our hearts are not perfect. We can't always just drum up the right feelings to match the action that's called for. So is it better to do what we don't feel and risk feeling hypocritical, or to be "honest" about our feelings and forgo the needed action?

At the risk of sounding legalistic, I believe God is more interested in what we do than in how we feel. I once heard a radio Bible teacher say that it is easier to act your way into better feelings than it is to feel your way into better actions. If we wait until we feel loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled, we will probably never get around to acting that way. I believe the Scripture supports this truth. When Cain brought his offering to the Lord and it was unacceptable, he became angry and unhappy. God challenged him with this question, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?" (See Gen. 4:7.) In other words, "If you do what is right, your feelings will fall in line."

Fruit has two functions. One is to nourish the one who eats it; the other is that the seed contained within it would reproduce another generation of the plant. The quality of our fruit of the Spirit is not based on whether we have comparable feelings but on whether it nourishes someone else and has the potential to reproduce itself. And that is not ours to assess, just as it is not ours to produce. It is the life of the vine that produces the fruit on the branch. So it is the life of Jesus within us that produces this wonderful, nutritious, reproductive fruit. "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Gal. 6:9).

© J.H.Nichols 2008

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