“By their fruits ye shall know them,” was the simple method or measuring stick Christ gave to distinguish “followers of the way.” Here are the most basic ripe fruits of the having the gift of the Holy Ghost.
When you have the spirit. You feel:
- Loving, happy, at peace, even when things are not going exactly as you hoped
- Generous and giving
- Understanding and patient
- Difficult to offend
- Not competitive with other people’s success and possessions
- Like praying and going to church
- You enjoy wholesome things and inspired entertainment
- Your love of the Savior is warm in your heart, and you want to obey Him.
- The whisperings of the Holy Spirit are precious to you
When you don’t have the Holy Spirit with you, you feel:
- Unlovable, unloving, unhappy, irritable and possibly depressed or frustrated, even when nothing is especially wrong.
- Possessive and selfish
- Very little patience with other people and children
- Easy to offend
- Jealous of other people’s success and possessions
- Like you don’t want to pray and go to church
- Energized by loud, violent, sexy worldly entertainment, music and movies
- The Savior or spiritual things doesn’t seem important
- A prompting seems like a nuisance, and an inconvenience.
Remember, feelings are fleeting, they come and go. So don’t get hung up on the worlds version and preoccupation with feelings. You don’t follow feelings, you find and create your feelings through habits and actions. You weren’t meant to be acted upon (follow feelings), but were created by the Almighty God to act (find and create) and “be an agent unto yourselves.” His fruits will surely follow your faithful and diligent planting.
