Now watch this segue!! Throughout Christianity, worship has been treated much like pork. We are quick to quote the nine fruits of the spirit from Galatians 5:22—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. But did you know that there is actually a tenth fruit, and that fruit is worship.
Eph. 5:18 through Eph. 5:21 (NIV) 18….be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Verse 18 says “be filled with the Spirit”, and when you do that there will be a fruit that will spring forth in your life. You will begin to testify to one other and sing in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, you will begin to have a song in your heart to God, you will find things to be thankful for, and you will come into unity with your brothers and sisters. All of that can be categorized under one word—WORSHIP. Now I know you’re probably thinking, “That Henderson dude is reaching.” But back up just a few verses to Eph. 5:8.
Eph. 5:8 through Eph. 5:9 (NKJV) 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
In this passage Paul is talking about walking in the light, but then he reiterates the qualities of the Spirit—righteousness, goodness, and truth. Why did he shift gears and go from light to Spirit? 1 John 1:5 says that God is light, so when Paul throws something about the Spirit into a teaching on light, he is still talking about the same thing because the Spirit of God is light. When you are walking in the light of God you will produce things that are good, righteous, and true—the fruit of the Spirit. As a matter of fact the New Living Translation states it this way: 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
As Paul is explaining what a Spirit-filled person should be like he says, “Oh and let me show you one more fruit that should be in your life when you are filled with the Spirit, and that fruit is worship.” When you are full of the Spirit of Christ, you should obviously be displaying love, joy, peace, and so on, but you cannot forget about living a life of worship. Remember that verse 10 of Galatians 5 says, “find out what pleases God”. You cannot fully please God without being a worshipper. Romans 12:1 says that our worship is holy and pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:15-16 says that our sacrifice of praise is well-pleasing to God.
Worship is the manifestation of a heart that is filled to capacity with the spirit of God. The Greek work that is translated ‘filled’ signifies completion. There is no more that can be added to it. The filling process is over. That being said, when you walk in the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit, you are naturally going to expend some amount of what you have taken in. So if this passage is saying to be filled to capacity, it is really saying “stay filled” with the spirit. Be continuously filled with the spirit. Never find yourself in a place where you have spent everything, and you have nothing left to give. Someone in that place has no strength to bear fruit and they become fruitless. No more love, joy, peace, etc., and worse yet, no more worship.
When you talk about the fruit of the Spirit, when you study it, and when you teach on it, don’t forget to include the fruit of worship. Worship ties everything together, and it completes the process of “finding out what pleases God”. Worship truly is the other white meat.
Experiencing Worship, The Study