Fruits of the Spirit
(Galatians 5:21-26) - “..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.”
I would like to start another series of tips around the Fruits of the Spirit and discuss some ways in which each could or should be a part of our married life. Our world is filled with so much darkness and sinful pressures that work against the health of all relationships, especially marriage. In fact, in Galatians 5:19-20, St. Paul gives pretty good descriptions of things that are still tearing down marriages today: immorality, impurity, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissention, drunkenness, etc. But God wants so much more for us and offers us help, through the Holy Spirit, with living out these virtues every day.
The Sacrament of marriage comes with the promise of an abundance of grace from God to help us endure trials and sufferings and to help our spouse in finding joy, peace, and a deep sense of love and gratitude. This is what we are called to live out through this nuptial vocation. But we need to seek out Christ to help us in accomplishing this task.
The problem is that many people today don’t invite Christ to work in and through their marriage by asking for His grace, and then allowing themselves to let that grace transform their lives and actions. We have to remember, it is not magic and Christ does not thrust it upon us. We must humbly ask Him for the grace and then let it fortify us to do the hard actions that will strengthen and heal our marriage. As I go through each of these fruits, I will be reflecting on one or two ways we could be living them out each day in our marriage.
ACTION STEP: This week, read through the passage above and ask Christ to help you identify which fruits of the Spirit you need help with living out more in your marriage.