The “Bookends” of the Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22 American Standard Version (ASV)
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

Bookends are great for keeping a row of books together. Sometimes books themselves are used as bookends.  To serve that purpose the books must be heavy-weights – the material they are made of must be strong enough to hold the other books together.  Spiritually speaking, “love” and “self-control” can be seen as the bookends of the Fruit of the Spirit.  They are the heavy-weights that provide the stability to keep the other Fruit in place.

The Fruit of the Spirit individually make-up the attributes of God; it describes the very character of God.  Collectively they are the attributes God brings to His relationship with you; and, these are the attributes He desires to see work through you to others.  The order of these attributes is not coincidental.

In the Christian walk love has to be present in every step. While there are different words in the Bible that reflect different types of love, the word for love that is part of the Fruit of the Spirit is “agape”, which means “unconditional love”.   It is a love that is based on a decision and not on feelings.  Agape love is the love God has for man.  Nothing we could do could make God love us more; and, nothing we could do could make Him love us less. When you yield to this God-kind of love that was deposited in you when you became born-again, you are positioning yourself to receive all the good things that God wants to do for you and all the good things He wants to do through you.  Why is love the first Fruit mentioned?  Because the Bible says, “Love never fails” (I Corinthians 13:8).

Self-control represents the other “heavyweight” bookend found at the end of the listing of the Fruit of the Spirit.  Another word for self-control is “discipline.”  One definition of discipline is to help accustom one to order and subordination.  A Christian walk cannot be successful without subordinating the soul (mind, will and emotions) to the Word of God.  Without discipline the soul is going to be taking you places you don’t want to go, and keep you there longer than you want to stay.

Love and self-control must be secured in your life for the other Fruit to operate at its greatest capacity. Using another analogy, think of love as a curtain rod and discipline as the hooks that go on that rod.  Without the rod in its place and without the hooks to connect to the rod, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the curtains; they will not be in a position for anyone to view their beauty.  So it is with the Fruit of the Spirit; love and self-control must be developed in the life of a believer before the fullness of God’s character and the beauty it reflects can be fully seen by others.

Galatians 5:22-23 The Message (MSG)

^22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

 3/16