Why, he lacked the very essence of the spirit’s fruitage, unselfish love. (Mark 10:17-22) Come, now! Let us be honest with ourselves and humble before Jehovah. Every one of us should put himself alongside his brothers at Ephesus to whom Paul wrote: “Put away the old personality [the old egotistical self] which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; but . . . be made new in the force actuating your mind, and . . . put on the new personality which was created [not self-developed] according to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness.”—Eph. 4:22-24, NW.

Walking in Good Behavior

“Let us walk in good behavior.”—Rom. 13:13, NW.

1. Wherein do we find the source and the channel of the spirit’s fruitage” How should an appreciation of this affect us?

WHAT has been discussed so far respecting the spirit’s fruitage in general, and concerning love in particular, also applies to the other things mentioned. In each instance these other qualities are first seen to inhere in Jehovah in superlative excellence. They are also seen in his beloved Son, Christ Jesus, in full perfection. And as, through an accurate knowledge of the truth, we see what a marvelous demonstration of these qualities has been given by Jehovah in all of his dealings, so we come to admire them and in every instance want to “become imitators of God, as beloved children, and go on walking” in them, manifesting them in our dealings, too, with all with whom we come in contact. As Paul said at the end of his letter to the Galatians: “As long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to us in the faith.”—Eph. 5:1, 2; Gal. 6:10, NW.

2. Why is love mentioned first in the list at Galatians 5:22, 23?

² Let us, then, take a brief look at these other qualities, all comprising the fruitage of the spirit. There is no question, however, that “the greatest of these is love.” It is the all-essential mainspring, without which the others cannot genuinely exist or operate. We shall consider them as listed by the apostle, though they do not appear to follow any particular sequence, for they are mentioned time and again in varying order throughout the Christian Greek Scriptures.—1 Cor. 13:1-3, 13, NW.

JOY

3. What authority or reason is given for the close connection between joy and God’s organization?

³ Joy is first mentioned after love, and where are we going to find joy today and how are we going to find the best opportunity of bearing this fruit? There is only the one answer, and that is, in Jehovah’s organization, Zion, wherein his own loving heart finds joyful satisfaction. Does not the prophecy of Zephaniah call upon those in Zion to “be glad and rejoice with all the heart,” and then go on to tell how even Jehovah himself “will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing”? (Zeph. 3:14, 17, AS) As specific evidence in support of this, many thousands of our readers will readily recall the tremendous and sustained joy and happiness that was experienced during the eight days of that great international gathering at Yankee Stadium in 1953. Literally, for those eight days, that was the best place on earth to experience real joy, and the same is true in principle of all special assemblies of Jehovah’s people.

4, 5. What was the joy set before Jesus, and in what practical ways can we share therein?

⁴ We know, too, that Christ Jesus has entered into “the joy that was set before him” in being made the chosen instrument, as King, to bring to full fruition his heavenly Father’s glorious purpose and the complete vindication of his Father’s name. In this happy work all the Lord’s true followers are invited to share. Indeed, that is why it is God’s “good pleasure” “to gather all things together again in the Christ” and in the organization under him, in order “that we should serve for the praise of his glory.” Let us therefore be faithful in the service of whatever Kingdom interests have been committed into our hands so that we may have the thrill of hearing and responding to that invitation: “Enter into the joy of your master.” And what greater joy is to be found than in seeking and finding and then feeding one of the Lord’s “other sheep”?—Heb. 12:2; Eph. 1:9-12; Matt. 25:21, NW.

⁵ Speaking personally, have you not known what it is sometimes for some trial or difficult condition to get on top of you so that you feel that life is pretty grim, and then you go to a meeting where you can share with your brothers in the fellowship of Kingdom truths and Kingdom service, or perhaps have a look at The Watchtower that has just come? You know the effect it has, as if a burden were lifted from your mind. It takes you out of yourself (which is a splendid thing), and perhaps gives you a new outlook on how to meet your problem. In other words, as explained in our previous study, you have taken advantage of the provisions made through the organization, resulting in Jehovah’s spirit’s operating afresh in your heart and mind, along with its fruitage of joy.

Peace

6. How is the importance of peace stressed in Scripture? Involving what?

⁶ Next in the list comes peace. And what can be said about that? A great deal, of course, but if we were to use an illustration of a huntsman first seeking out his prey and then going after it in hot pursuit, it would certainly not appear to be a picture of peace, would it? Yet listen to what David wrote at Psalm 34:14: “Seek peace, and pursue it.” Does that mean that peace is an elusive bird, like the “dove of peace” is to the nations today? No. It is the importance of peace that is the thing stressed. First, we must gain peaceful relations with God, through Jesus Christ, and with his family of devoted people. Then we must see the necessity of pursuing and maintaining that peace, praying for it and always working to that end, as David said in another psalm: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God [the center of pure worship] I will seek thy good.” (Ps. 122:6, 8, 9, AS) This may mean, on your part, sacrificing something, perhaps some relationship into which you have entered, that is quite legitimate in your own eyes but that you know