Bearing the Good Fruit of The Spirit
My husband Shawn’s latest fruit discovery is the white peach. Their sweet, supple taste and intoxicating fragrance are indeed quite a natural find and very hard to resist. When I was younger, my sister and I used to fight over who got to eat them until the “Great White Fruit Ration” when my mother started rationing the white fruit to make sure everyone who wanted a white peach or nectarine received one. White peaches and nectarines were a big part of each summer and definitely something we all looked forward to. So imagine how surprised I was to find that, until the day I mentioned white fruit to my husband, he had never heard of such fruit! It’s not that white fruit is not sold in his region, just the simple fact that nobody in his life ever pointed out the natural treasure white fruit truly is to him.
Likewise, I find myself extremely surprised to meet people calling themselves Christians who have never heard of a Christian concept known as “the Fruit of the Spirit.” How surprised so many are to learn Christians should be believing, living, and walking in such fruitage of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV). The saddest part is that some who do not know of this wonderful spiritual fruit simply because nobody has ever told them. Even though the concept of bearing fruit is not foreign to the Scriptures, many today fail to see the connection between our lives and the call to bear fruit.
In essence, the Christian life is one where each individual member of
Christ’s Body is called to fruit-bearing.
Everything we do in our lives calls upon us to display the spiritual
wonders God is doing within us through the Spirit. From Genesis to Revelation, we find fruit
trees bearing fruit or not bearing fruit. In Matthew 7:16-20, Jesus says: “You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so, every good tree
brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit. Every tree that does not bring
forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits
you shall know them.” While anyone
can claim to be Christian, the only proof or disproof to such claims is the fruit we bear. Both believers and non-believers can see the
good – or bad – that comes forth from those who claim to be a part of Christ’s
Body. Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit in
our lives is an essential part of Christian faith, not an optional aspect we
can get to later. The world is watching,
as “The tree is known by his fruit”
(Matt.12:33, KJV). Through the Spirit,
all Christians have the ability to walk in the Fruit of the Spirit, bearing it
wherever they go.
Looking
at this marvelous fruit, we see that Love
is listed first because the Fruit of the Spirit is love. All other aspects of spiritual fruitage begin
with love: love for God and love for others as oneself. Jesus Himself establishes love as the essence
of the law (Mark
Joy is such a forgotten aspect of life
today because we cannot know true joy without first knowing love. With most of society seeking temporary
happiness through selfish avenues, multitudes never experience unspeakable
joy. As “God is love” (1 John 4:8, KJV), we know God through love and we
experience God in love. There is no greater joy than knowing God and
walking in reflection of His loving Image.
Joy does not mean living in a state of overdone happiness; rather, joy
bespeaks contentment in any situation, and confidence in God to bring us safely
wherever He leads. Peace follows hand-in-hand with joy in that we find a powerful
rest, despite what we may encounter in every situation. Not being troubled by every disturbance,
peace breeds peace. It is no accident
that Jesus declares of those who walk in peace, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of
God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV).
Patience is a word foreign to
many. Road rage, anger when one has to
wait, and rudeness to servers when a service takes longer to materialize than
expected are all signs of a severely impatient society. With drive-through restaurants and
pharmacies, mail sent via the click of a computer mouse, and new advancing
technologies every day, the fast-paced move of life causes people to expect
more and more while waiting less and less.
The faster technology moves, the slower some seem to get, which can
present a situation of frustration.
Similarly, one thing I’ve come to find in my own life and the lives of many
I work with
is that despite
the faster pace
of life
today, God doesn’t move any faster than
He ever has, and as a re-
sult, sometimes it seems as if God is
slower than He used to be. Patience is
not so much waiting but how we wait. We can
wait in hopeful expectation or total misery.
We can be active stewards, reflecting God while we wait for an answer to
our prayers, or we can gripe and complain in the interim. Ecclesiastes 7:8 raises two very relevant
points: “The end of a matter is better
than its beginning, and patience is better than pride” (NIV). Patience is
compared to the end of a matter because patience bears with a quiet assurance
of completion whereas pride bears a ruckus of impatience in the unknown.
Living in patience trusts God for all outcomes with a right attitude.
Kindness and goodness are aspects of fruitage that go hand-in-hand. If we live in kindness, we will also live in
goodness. Those who live kindheartedly
reflect love in action through charity, empathy, and helpfulness. The result of such is goodness, a
never-ending showcasing of the glory of God whether one deserves it or not. In showing us both, we see God’s kindness and
goodness to us, His work in our lives, both merited
and unmerited (Isaiah 54:8).
Faithfulness and gentleness also go together.
If we are faithful in persevering despite all odds to the very end, we
will have a unique spiritual understanding of humility which will render us
more merciful as people of character. As
God is faithful to His promises and to His Word, and loves us with gentle
mercy, so too should we reflect this in all we do as the day grows closer to
the coming of the Lord (Psalm 89:5, Philippians 4:5).
Self-control is yet another forgotten
aspect of life but most important because it keeps us walking, day in and day
out, in spiritual fruitage. While we cannot
start displaying spiritual fruit until we live in love and abide in Christ, we also
cannot live disciplined enough to bear the fruitage of
the Holy Spirit without the benefit of self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control” (NIV). As fruit-bearing Christians, we must
protect our fruitage with the wall of self-control. Such serves as a defense against invasion
from spiritual enemies.
Writing,
speaking, and teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit always reminds me of a
quotation by Max Lucado: “It’s what we do
for Christ in the here and now that will make a difference in the then and
there.” While white peaches and
other summer fruits eventually give way to fall fruits, and fall fruits in
likewise pass away to winter, the Fruit of the Spirit is one fruit that shall
never pass away, surviving all seasons, conditions, and trials. It is then all the more important that we
realize that bearing spiritual fruit is the difference we make for Christ not
just now, but for always, to the Glory of God.
Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino