In my last post I mentioned that I was asking God for more revelation concerning my past false definition of gentleness. By the end of the day I had written down false definitions for all of the Fruits of the Spirit. Since the Fruits of the Spirit are grown in relationship with the Lord, wouldn’t it make since that counterfeits of the Fruits of the Spirit would manifest in our lives through self-reliance or faulty understanding about God’s love and character.
When you and I don’t understand our identity in Christ or know what healthy relationships are supposed to look like, it easy to confuse the fruits with their counterfeits:
Lust feels like love- until you are finished using or being used.
Happiness feels like joy-until trials come, or you don’t “feel” happy anymore.
Denial feels like peace-until your circumstances become unbearable.
Passivity feels like patience (long-suffering)-until you’ve had enough. Then it can easily turn to rage.
Permissiveness or being subservient feels like gentleness-until you discover that you lost the real “you” a long time ago.
Self-righteousness feels like goodness-until you see your flaws. Then it turns into shame and self-loathing.
False responsibility feels like faithfulness-until it turns into resentment.
Enabling feels like kindness-until you realize that the people who are using you aren’t getting better and that you are paying the cost for their bad decisions.
So if the counterfeits fruits often feel like the genuine fruits how can we tell the difference?
The true Fruits of the Spirit bear good fruit in our lives.
Counterfeits will keep us guarded, Real fruit keeps us guided by the Holy Spirit.
Counterfeits make us feel intimidated or cause us to intimidate; Real fruit leads to true intimacy (into-me-you-see)
Counterfeits bring frustration; real fruit brings freedom.
Counterfeits are birthed out of pain, loss, disappointment, fear, failure and believing lies about God , ourselves and others. Real fruit is birthed out of passion, love, desire for relationship, faith, freedom, and believing the truth about God, ourselves and others.
The other day when I was paying for my groceries with a fifty dollar bill, the cashier shared a story with me. Apparently, a few days before, the cashier had to call the police because a woman had given her a counterfeit fifty dollar bill. The woman proved to be innocent, but since the bill was fake, the woman lost fifty dollars.
The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. One of the ways he does this is through counterfeits. Thankfully, because of what Christ had done, you and I don’t have to lose out when counterfeits are discovered, we just have to take hold of the truth and allow God to restore!
May the Lord abundantly bless you!
Jeannie
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Great writing!