The fruit of the Spirit is the result of a Spirit-led life. When you walk in the Spirit, the fruit that is cultivated is that you become a person of greater joy, greater peace, greater patience, greater love, etc. (see Galatians 5:22-23). That love, joy, or peace is going to emanate out of you because you’re walking with the Spirit. It has to do with your personal life. The fruit of the Spirit is the foundation that will keep you safe in your ministry life. The gifts of the Spirit, on the other hand, pertain to your ministry life—and unfortunately many people pursue the gifts over the fruit.

I have prayed, “God, I never want the gifts You’ve placed on my life to supersede the fruit You’ve developed in me.” I prayed that so I can finish well, because what often happens is that people start pursuing the gifts. The Bible says, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1). People pursue the gifts, but they ignore the fruit (love).

Gifts don’t have the character to carry people and can end up destroying them. Judas cast out devils. He healed the sick. Yet Judas is in hell. Jesus said, “It would be better for him if he had never been born” (Matthew 26:24 NET). Judas had the gifts of the Spirit operating in his life, but he obviously didn’t cultivate the fruit.

Lisa: Some people operate in powerful gifts, yet the fruit of their lives is in such contrast to the power of the gifts. How does that happen?

John: Just take one look at Balaam. Balaam had the gift of prophecy. His prophecies are actually in the Bible! The words he spoke were the words of God. Yet God had the people kill him with the edge of his sword because he was so wicked and disobedient. King Saul was crazy. He was a madman. At one point, he hunted down David, the anointed of God, to kill him. Yet in the midst of this he prophesied one day with the prophets (see 1 Samuel 19).

The fact that spiritual gifts are operating in a person’s life does not necessarily indicate the approval of God. Jesus said, “Many are going to say to Me, ‘We cast out devils in Your name. We did miracles in Your name. We did great wonders in Your name, we prophesied and preached in Your name.’” Then He’ll say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you—you who practiced lawlessness! You didn’t develop the fruit in your life” (see Matthew 7:22-23). The Lord spoke to me one day and said, “Did you notice they don’t say, ‘But we fed the poor in Your name. We visited those in prison in Your name’? The people who do these kinds of things cultivate the fruit.” Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit is a safeguard that positions us to finish well.