Galatians 5:22-23(NLT) states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Many of us learned about the fruit of the Spirit in Sunday School. There may have been cartoonish drawings of various fruits and lessons about them that were made very easy for our young minds to comprehend. Because of this, it’s possible that we overlooked how foundational spiritual fruit is to our spiritual maturity in adulthood. Galatians 5:25 commands, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” To walk in the Spirit is to submit ourselves to God with an understanding that He isn’t millions of miles away. He lives in us, and He will lead, guide, and direct us if we yield to His influence and direction.
Many of us have greatly underestimated God’s commitment to see us produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. His goal is that we imitate the example of Jesus Christ, and God’s beloved and powerful, only begotten Son produced fruit without ceasing. Jesus said in John 8:29(NLT), “And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” Our powerful Lord is teaching us that we can remain in him and walk in his Spirit by doing the things that please God. This is how we access the promises of our Heavenly Father, but the world tries to convince us that we can have God’s promises when we disobey His Word. That’s not the truth, and we need to get really clear on this.
In John 15:5(NLT), Jesus Christ teaches, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” This lesson from Christ schools us in the reality that some branches will not remain in him. And therefore, some branches will not produce much fruit. The only way to produce much fruit is to stay anchored in Christ and follow his example. If we attempt to live separated from him by doing our own thing or doing what the world does, our efforts will be pointless because ultimately, we will not produce anything for God’s Kingdom. This is not where anyone should want to be.
As God’s people, we have a new nature. Colossians 3:10(NLT) tells us, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” Our new nature was created in Christ and it is a spiritual nature. One of the most important aspects of a spiritual nature in Christ is a singular and razor-sharp concentration on moving forward. Looking ahead and forgetting the past is one of the spiritual characteristics that separates a person of faith from an unbeliever. The unbelieving person is stuck in the past. They are not excited about the future because they don’t truly believe in their hearts there’s anything to be excited about. They feel compelled to cling to the past because it’s what they know, and the past is where they feel comfortable.
We all experience times when we cling to our comfort zones, but our new nature in Christ will not allow us to camp out there too long. Our Heavenly Father is never about regression and always about progression. No one can go back to their past for a do-ever. The past is gone forever, and it will never come again. We are no longer who we used to be, and we must bring our minds and hearts in the present with God and focus on what He is doing right now, this very moment, in our lives. God’s desire is laid out in Colossians 3:10. He tells us to put on more and more of our new nature in Christ as we learn more about him. We are to keep our eyes looking forward and not backward. The Apostle Paul put it best when he said in Philippians 3:13-14(NLT), “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
In Luke 9:62(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Sometimes we forget what we’re here for. We forget that Jesus Christ said in John 15:8(NLT), “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” We’re to bring in the harvest, and the Master reminds us in Luke 9:62 that once our hands are on the plow, we must look ahead in order to do the work God has called us to carry forth. When we come to Christ, whether it is bit by bit, or load by load, we must lose the old self to fully embrace Jesus. All the pain and disappointment of the past, we have to let it go.
How many of us have told the Master, “Lord, I love you so much. I’ll do what you want me to do, I’ll be what you want me to be. Lord, I’ll follow you wherever you go!” This sounds so faithful, so pious, but if we’re still talking about what happen last year or years prior, are we really following Jesus wherever he goes? Because he’s not going backward. He’s not going to our pasts and bringing them forward. Jesus Christ is focused on what lies ahead, and if we want to follow him, that’s exactly what we must do. It’s a life of faith to follow the Lord. It’s trusting God even though we don’t know all the details about the future. We must have full confidence that He only wants the best for us.
Jesus Christ has to be the first priority in our lives. Total surrender and full submission is required. God commands us in Romans 12:1 to present all that we are before Him. We belong to Him! He’s given us free-will, and through the gift of our free-will, we have the honor and privilege to present back to Him what He’s freely given us. We do this so He can bless us with even more. That’s His plan for increasing and expanding us. We couldn’t have come up with it. Its origin comes from God’s perfect thoughts, so we know we can trust it. His priority is that we produce much fruit! No one should ever look back once you follow Jesus Christ. We must keep our eyes on Jesus as he moves us forward and upward, from faith to faith, and glory to glory!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“You Must Not Ever Look Back!” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!