Okay, I had a “Eureka!” moment. As I realized what the difference is between fruit and gifts. It will make sense in a little bit. “On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine ladies dancing.” The nine ladies dancing are not Rockettes nor Vegas show girls. The nine ladies dancing represent the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. I know that you are probably thinking, we’ve already had a Holy Spirit reference in the song. You’re right, we have. The seven swimming swans represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The nine dancing ladies represent the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
So, what’s the difference? The way I see it is, the gifts of the Spirit are gifts that we received through our baptism and holy adoption into the family of God. Do we always accept and walk in these gifts, NO. However the fruits of the Holy Spirit are attributes of the Holy Spirit that we should have because the Holy Spirits dwells within us. Every baptized believer has been sealed by the Holy Spirit forever as Christ’s own. I will relieve you from your suspense. The fruits of the spirit can be found in Galatians 5:22-23, and they are LOVE, PEACE, JOY, FORBEARANCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL. Got fruit? If so, share a little. You may make yourself and others around you feel better.
Peace and Christmastide Blessings,
Karsten
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