When Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, He makes our hearts His home and joins our human spirit with His Holy Spirit. It is a glorious experience and of utmost necessity for every believer. But that’s not the end of what the Spirit has to offer us!

Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 12 about the gifts of the Spirit. This is where we learn that there are nine gifts of the Spirit. They’re given to us for edifying, encouraging and comforting the body of Christ. This is amazing to see because we also learn in Galatians five that there are nine manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit.

To understand the difference between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, we note that the fruit manifests God’s divine nature, while the gifts manifest God’s ministry. Fruit is grown over time. It must be carefully and intentionally cultivated with proper sunlight, soil, and water. On the other hand, gifts are given. They are given when people form a relationship and cannot be earned. Therefore, the fruit of the Spirit is grown over time and is the manifestation of God’s nature through us. The gifts of the Spirit are given to us through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and they empower us to operate in God’s ministry to mankind. The fruit of the Spirit is grown, but the gifts of the Spirit are given. Fruit indicate maturity and growth, while gifts indicate relationship. It is possible to be immature and operate powerfully in the gifts of the Spirit at the same time. This is exactly what happened with the Corinthian church; they were very carnal but powerfully gifted. Just read 1 Corinthians 1-3 to find that out.

God wants us to partner with Him to bear His nature and His ministry. Imagine that! The partnership opportunity we have with God is better than any school group project we could ever participate in. Not only does God have all of the answers to operating in the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, but He wants us to excel in them.

The fruit of the Spirit is beautiful in that it takes on nine different manifestations, but still one fruit. It’s like walking up to a tree with fruit on it, take a bite, and it tastes like an apple. The next bite tastes like an orange. The next like a pear, then a kiwi, pineapple, strawberry, banana, blueberry, then raspberry! God is the only gardener that can get nine flavors out of the same fruit! It is crucial for us to walk in God’s nature so that people can see Jesus Christ living in and through us. The fruit of the Spirit will help us to grow in character, integrity, and spirituality.

Looking at the gifts of the Spirit, we can group them into three groups of three. The first group can be called the silent gifts. This group includes the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the discerning of spirits. The word of knowledge is when God supernaturally gives us information about a person, place, or situation. The word of wisdom is when God supernaturally shows us how to usespecific information about a person, place, or situation. The discerning of spirits is when God supernaturally helps us distinguish between a human spirit, demonic spirit, angelic spirit, or God’s Spirit being at work. The second group can be called the utterance gifts. This group includes the gift of diverse kinds of tongues, the interpretation of tongues, and the gift of prophecy. The gift of diverse kinds of tongues is when we speak in an unknown language to give a message from God to the church. It works together with the gift of interpretation of tongues. The interpretation of tongues is when God supernaturally reveals to us what the message in unknown languages was, and we speak it out. The gift of prophecy is when God supernaturally empowers us to declare a message from God about a person, place, situation, in the present and/or future. The last group can be called the power gifts. This group includes the gift of faith, the working of miracles, and the gifts of healing. The gift of faith is when God supernaturally empowers us with a conviction that He will perform a supernatural demonstration. The working of miracles is when God empowers us to do an unexplainable demonstration by His Spirit (like raise the dead, pray for tumors to disappear, change the weather, etc). The gifts of healing are when God supernaturally empowers us to restore someone’s body, soul, or spirit. It is plural because God gives multiple gifts of healing for multiple sicknesses, diseases, and issues.

God wants us to manifest His nature and ministry to the Church and to the lost. Pray for God to lead you in the fruit and gifts and act on it! Be bold! In the name of Jesus!

Hector Robles hosts a podcast and bible study channel by the name of Sparrow.Podcast. On a weekly basis, you can find new content regarding the Bible and ministry. He lives and works as an engineer in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Savannah and they gladly serve at Calvary Apostolic Church.

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