Your Spiritual Biometric Screening: What Does Your Life Reveal?

I have health insurance through my employer, and one thing my plan requires (and even rewards me for completing) is a Biometric Screening Form. This form is a record of measurements from my annual physical exam and gives me a snapshot of my physical health.

But what if we had a screening like that for our spiritual health?

In Part 1 of our Spiritual Check-up series, we talked about how important it is to examine our walk with God. Just as a physical exam can show us health issues we aren’t aware of, a spiritual exam can do the same for our spiritual health.

Are we growing more Christ-like? Are we slipping back into old habits that make us less godly? Or are we just kind of stagnant in our faith?

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul the Apostle does us a huge favor – he gives us a great Biometric Screening Form. Well, not really, but Paul does give us a template we can use to grade our spiritual lives, a “fruit of the Spirit” self-examination.

Near the end of the letter, Paul reminds us that the one thing that should characterize our lives is love for others: 

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Galatians 5:13-14)

That’s basically impossible for us to do on our own, but we aren’t called to do it in our strength and ability. Paul goes on to say that the only way we can truly love the way Jesus loves is by surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. In fact, the only way we can overcome the “desire of the flesh,” or that sinful nature we were born with and that hinders us from being who we should be, is by submission to the Spirit:

I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

Every time I have a physical exam, my doctor talks to me about the importance of exercise. He always asks, “Are you walking regularly?” Paul also says we’re to walk, but he uses the word “walk” here to mean to “conduct one’s life.” One of the Holy Spirit’s purposes is to lead his children into holiness, so to overcome our sinful impulses, we should seek to walk by the Spirit, to be fully submitted to, dependent on, and controlled by the Holy Spirit. If we do this, Paul says, there will be evidence of it. 

But the walk won’t be easy:

For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. (Galatians 5:17)

As Christians, we have two natures: the sinful nature we mentioned earlier, and the new nature we received at salvation. Believers have an ongoing conflict between the desires of the flesh and our new nature. It’s the Holy Spirit that helps us overcome the cravings of our old nature and to follow our new nature.

Paul lists some of the works of the sinful nature (flesh) in verses 19-21:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things – as I warned you before – that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

There’s your first checklist: things that shouldn’t be part of our lives. Take a moment and read through that list. Are any of those present in your life? It’s easy to see some of the “big” sins there and say, “Hey, I’m not being immoral, and I’m not involved in sorcery, so I’m good.” But how are you doing with jealousy? Envy? Outbursts of anger?

Thankfully, Paul doesn’t just list things that shouldn’t be in our lives. In the next two verses, he shows us what a life lived under the control of the Holy Spirit looks like, things that should be in our lives:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. (Galatians 5:22-23) 

Take a long, slow look at that list. Does this look like you? I’ll describe each of these in detail below for those who want to go a little deeper, but for now, ask yourself, “Do these things overflow in my life?” 

How would someone who knows you well answer that question?

Before you beat yourself up, remember that we can’t produce this fruit on our own. It’s impossible. Only the Holy Spirit can do this. In verse 25, Paul reminds us of what he’s already said back in verse 16: 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

It’s the fruit“of the Spirit.” Only the Holy Spirit operating in the life of a believer can produce this fruit. That’s why Paul, in Galatians 5, says we are to “walk by the Spirit” (5:16), be “led by the Spirit” (5:18), “live by the Spirit,” and “keep in step with the Spirit” (5:25). If we do this, the Holy Spirit will produce his fruit within us. People will look at us and see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Our goal, then, is not to produce the fruit, but to keep in step with the Holy Spirit.

The word for “keep in step” in verse 25 is stoicheo, which means to walk in line, to march in battle order. Paul is calling us to follow in the footsteps of the Holy Spirit, allowing him to guide and empower us to live as he desires, while we join him in battle against our sinful desires and for our holiness. We can’t produce this fruit without the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean we’re supposed to sit around and let him do all the work. He leads; we follow and obey in faith. He guides; we do what the Bible tells us to do. Most of the characteristics listed in this passage are commanded of us elsewhere. So we work, and the Holy Spirit produces.

This week, spend some time in Galatians 5:19-23. Read it multiple times and take your time when you read. Ask God to show you how you’re doing regarding these “works of the flesh” and “fruit of the Spirit.” If you were completing a Biometric Screening Form on your spiritual life, how would you score?

Remember, the purpose of a spiritual check-up is to honestly examine our lives, discover where we need to grow, and surrender to the Holy Spirit as he helps us in that growth.

We’ll continue with our Spiritual Check-up in the next post.

A Closer Look at the Nine Characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit:

Now, as promised, for those of you who want to go a little deeper, here’s the full list of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit along with the original Greek word and a brief explanation. I pray this helps you in your self-evaluation:

Love – agape – The result of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is that we can love one another just like God loves us. It’s the greatest virtue we can have in our lives (1 Corinthians 13:13). We should be known for our love of other people, people who are like us and unlike us, people who agree with us and who don’t agree with us, people who love us back and people who hate us.

Joy – chara – This word has the same root as “grace.” We can’t make ourselves joyful, but we can allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with the joy of knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28) and that God will ultimately bring an end to evil and pain. 

Peace – eirene – Like joy, peace has nothing to do with circumstances; it’s a condition of knowing you’re saved, knowing you’re loved by God, and resting on those truths no matter what you face. It also includes the ability to be at peace with other people.

Patience – makrothumia – The ability to put up with other people when it isn’t easy to do that. Patience refuses to yield to outbursts of anger (ouch) when people frustrate us. It’s the ability to accept circumstances that irritate us and to wait on God when he tells us to wait.

Kindness – chrestotes – Treating others even better than they treat us. How much better this world would be if every Christian would simply be kind!

Goodness – agathosyne – Simply being good to other people; being generous, being willing to go the extra mile to help others. 

Faithfulness- pistis – This is someone who can be relied on, who keeps their promises. A faithful person is trustworthy and dependable.

Gentleness – prautes – This one is constantly misunderstood. Some would claim that this characteristic isn’t very manly; it’s wimpy. But this is strength under control; power harnessed to serve others. It’s also a refusal to push people around just because you can. Like kindness, this includes being considerate of others.

Self-control – enkrateia – The ability to keep yourself in check, restraining and controlling yourself, including your words spoken or written (hello, social media!) no matter what’s going on around you, whether you’re being tempted, things seem to be falling apart, or someone hurts you.