So, 

I don’t know about you, but all of the fruit of the spirit, this is the one I’m not too interested in, self-control!

Of course, I’m pretty sure you don’t get to pick and choose. 

But if this was a corner grocery down in the city with the stacked up tables of fruit outside, I might just pass over these plumbs for a few more grapes and an extra banana.

Because self-control sounds, unlike all the other fruit, to be kind of hard to manage. 

Love, let it flow! Joy, oh yeah, I got the joy of the Lord! 

But self-control sounds to me like something a lot less flowish, and a lot more like I gotta work at it. Maybe it’s just me.

The fruit of the Spirit according to the Apostle Paul are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

And they are a direct result Paul says of the Holy Spirit inhabiting us as we come to faith. It’s not something we do. It’s not something that comes as a second blessing at some later time in our spiritual growth. 

Rather, the fruit is part of us, just as much as the Spirit is part of us. It is the Spirit working through us to touch the lives of others.

So, the reality is, unlike the way I feel about self-control, that’s it’s a huge burden, in reality you don’t have to doing anything to make these fruit appear other then get out of the way! 

Our calling is to let the fruity roll! To stop gumming up the works by focusing on our needs and desires and instead let God work through us!

And today’s story of the warrior shepherd David is a great example of the fruit of self-control!

To be sure David was not exactly a role model of always being what we think of as a model Christian. He made huge mistakes and had to repent and be forgiven for lots of stuff. 

But when it came to listening to the Spirit in this situation he did. He could have chosen to kill Saul and declare himself as king right then and there. 

Instead, he decided to wait, exercise that gift of self-control, and put the choice of king back into God’s hands.

Exercising self-control is ultimately choosing to do the loving thing, as is the case with all of the fruit of the Spirit. 

With the Spirit in charge we love others and through love bring joy and peace and patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to bear.

Not that is always easy!

King Saul was there for the taking. The spear was right by his head. One thrust and it was all over. 
But David paused, listened, and chose God’s way over his own. Something we could all learn from. 

Pause before we answer. Pause before we hit the send button. Pause before we assume the way forward is the way it should be because God’s way might be quite different.

David refused to be the instrument of Saul’s death. 

How Saul died, how Saul left behind his kingdom was up to God. David would instead do the right thing, though in typical younger brother fashion first taunting Abner that he was a lousy protector for God’s chosen King.

So back to us. How well are the fruit of the Spirit being revealed in us?

Are you loving easy people only, or are you loving those hard cases as well? I try to love people! Is muttering about them a fail?

Is God’s joy welling up in you so much so that people marvel at how joyous you are? Are you singing those church songs up and down the aisle at the supermarket? How about at work? On the way to work where people drive lousy? Watch out for errant mailboxes, just saying!

Are you sharing God’s peace with those who are struggling, and being patience with all of God’s very difficult people? I know it’s hard; that’s why we need each other, to encourage each other! And, to hold each other accountable.

Because the grow of the fruit of the Spirit in your life is a clean sign that God’s Spirit is growing in you too. 

Are kindness and goodness and faithfulness your go-to ways of dealing with challenging issues and challenging people? 

Or do you just bad mouth them? Write nasty emails about them? Avoid them at all costs, when instead God might just be sending you to be in the cave with them, so you can practice some self-control!

And as for gentleness, is your heart softening in the presence of God Almighty. 

When you have time to spend with God and God’s people, do you feel the Spirit’s presence grow in you too? Do you feel the fire grow and glow and dance, and does you face reflect the joy of the sure knowledge that God is with you?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Amen.