Word of the Week - Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

When we make the decision to surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are made new in Him 2 Cor 5:17.  In our newness, the Holy Spirit is imparted and becomes alive within us, giving us the power to overcome our natural flesh so we can be vessels that produce spiritual fruit as described in Galatians 5:22-23 above.  This passage goes on to say that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” Galatians 5:24-26.  I think we would all agree that the 9 fruits of the spirit listed above are very attractive and desirable but not easily attained.  In fact I would suggest that we cannot produce these characteristics in our own strength no matter how hard we try, I know this from personal experience.  For example, we really cannot give ourselves true peace or patience, it is something that we only experience as a blessing from God.Three thoughts on Spiritual Fruits:

• Unlike spiritual gifts or natural talents, which are not universal to all believers, all Christians have the capacity to experience the fruits of God’s spirit – These fruits are not granted selectively but the result of our abiding in the person of Christ through our connection to Him in spirit.  As our spirit man grows and develops it takes on the attributes of Christ, which encompass the 9 spiritual fruits and more.  We become Christ-like, which should be the goal of a Christ follower.  Alternatively, if we do not nourish our spirit through the vine of Christ and we allow our flesh to be fed beyond our spirit, we will experience our sinful nature, the acts of the flesh that Paul lists as things like hatred, discord, selfish ambition immorality and the list goes on.  The things are in opposition to God’s spiritual fruits.
• We cannot produce spiritual fruit in our own strength but we can create and develop the right environment and conditions for the fruit to be produced – Analogous to the natural process of a fruit tree’s ability to produce fruit, the fruit is produced when the tree is planted in good soil and receives key ingredients for growth and health like sunlight, rain and the right temperature and is not competing with other things that are trying to choke it out.  When the fruit tree is properly nourished then it flourishes and produces much fruit.  In the same way, we cannot control the fruit production in our lives but we can control our environment and what we are pursuing and feeding our flesh and spirit.  This is so important to the life of a believer, we must posture ourselves daily by connecting to the vine of Christ so we can receive the nutrients of God’s spirit allowing spiritual fruit to be produced in us and through us.  “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.  This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23
• It is by the fruits of the Spirit that Christians are recognized as true believers both by other Christians and by unbelievers -  I think we have to really question the sincerity of our faith if we are not seeing spiritual fruit being produced in our lives.  The Lord deeply desires for His sons and daughters to produce fruit so 1) they can experience the power of God in a tangible way as we become new in Christ and become more Christlike, 2) So we can be an encouragement to other believers as we exhort one another to be all Christ has called us to be and live to our full potential, and 3) To be an attractive witness to people who are lost and don’t yet know Christ.  Desiring that the fruit of the Spirit being produced in our lives would be salt and light making those who don’t believe become curious about what it is that makes us different giving us the opportunity to share the Good News.   “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.  People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:43-45

So how do we remain in the Spirit so God can produce fruit in our lives?  Jesus makes it very clear in the Gospel of John that Spiritual Fruit is a bi-product of being intimately connected to the vine of Christ.  He uses the analogy of a vineyard; “I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in me, I will abide you and you will produce much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing” John 15:5.  He makes it very clear that He is the source of spiritual fruit in our lives and the only way we can produce spiritual fruit is through our connection with Him.  He promises us that if we seek Him and remain connected to Him, we will bear much fruit.  So let’s seek the Lord with all of our heart by abiding in Him through the spiritual disciplines, which I shared in my “Word of the Week” last Sunday, see here.  Preparing the soil of our hearts by connecting daily to Jesus through the vine, will produce an abundance of fruit and allow us to become beacons of life and light in a world that is starving for this amazing Fruit of God’s Spirit.I hope you have a fruit filled week abiding in Christ.Thanks,-Duane