Today we are continuing to look at the Fruit of the Spirit, as found in Galatians 5: 22-26:

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

One of the verses that we all know and love so much is John 3:16, “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  That’s a passage that means so much to so many of us, and that can truly define what our faith is about.  

But before we get to that, let’s remind ourselves what the point of salvation is. Salvation is merely to go to heaven.  If that was all that we were saved for, then why are we still here after we are converted?  We remain here upon the earth, so there is something that God has for us. 

One of the reasons why I’m a Methodist is the fact that Wesley taught that Scripture tells us that the point of salvation is for us to be restored and remade in the image and likeness of God.  Or, as Scripture calls us, to be sanctified.  We are to grow in grace, being made more faithful, more like Jesus. 

We are to have the image of God restored that was corrupted in the Fall (Genesis 3).  

So, restored to resemble God.  Let’s look at who God is and what His character is. And that takes us back to John 3:16.  God so loves the world that He gave. 

God is a giver. 

If we are going to be like our Savior, then we are going to givers. It’s is really that simple.  We are to be like God. God is a giver. We are to be a giver. 

We are to be generous. That is part of who God is. And if we are rooted in His Spirit, His Spirit will bear within us fruit.  And part of that fruit is generosity. 

It is simply something that the Spirit will do. The closer we walk with God, the more we are transformed, the more we will give. Generosity is part of who God is. 

And the more we are rooted in Him, the more generosity will be part of who we are.  

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