“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22,23
Who are you becoming?
The answer to this question can be found in revealing where you have been abiding.
Underneath the surface of every living thing are roots tied to something, connecting this living thing to its life-giving source. Where our hearts and minds abide, when no one else is looking, is the source of the fruit we bear both publicly and privately.
While we can’t always see the source, or where a person is abiding, we can judge the wellness and vitality of the source by the condition of the fruit.
What kind of fruit are you bearing?
I’ve had to ask myself this a lot lately. Am I bearing love and joy and peace and patience? Or am I bearing hate and defeat and anxiety and irritability? Is kindness, goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control blossoming out of my life? Or am I, at best, producing counterfeit acts of kindness and harsh answers to my family members? It takes all the maturity I can muster to answer these convicting questions with integrity and honesty. Some days I am not loving. Or patient. Or self-controlled. Or kind.
My fruit is not always so juicy and sweet.
Sour fruit happens when I lose my connectedness to the source of all that is fruitfully pleasant. Bearing rotten fruit is a direct result of a life stretched beyond margin and dependent upon self-sufficiency and pride. Something’s growing, but it’s not sweet. A field can produce a crop, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the crop is healthy.
Diseased fruit is tied to roots drawing from diseased soil.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4
To produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we must abide relentlessly with Jesus.
The most supernatural display of a Spirit-filled life is one ripe with the fruit of the Spirit. And this can only come through a deep connectedness with Christ.
To abide is to produce.
Who are you becoming?
To what source are you connected?
Anyone can put on a show of love for a short period of time, but a life that is defined by love, and one that bears all things, is truly hard to find. That kind of fruit is rare.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a flash-in-the pan type of Christian. I want to bear fruit consistently and for the long haul. In fact, I want the fields of my life to be rich and plentiful, producing a steady harvest of healthy and sustainable produce. But a longing like that may never see its fulfillment if the soil is not managed and maintained.
Maintenance requires discipline. We think spiritual disciplines are so legalistic and outdated. We don’t like to feel constrained to a specific pathway towards spiritual growth. Yet, it is discipline that causes a farmer to wake up early, manage his fields, and spend his daylight hours toiling away, in all manner of conditions, to produce a healthy crop. His discipline reaps a harvest.
How is your fruit?
To what are your roots tied?
Are you abiding by your wits and strong-will to make it all happen? You can’t bear love, true love, without abiding in true Love. And whatever plastic counterfeit-to- the-real thing you are carrying around will not last. Is your produce diseased? Have you tied yourself to a source that mimics good soil, but damages and destroys?
I say this as one who so often needs to check underneath the surface and cut ties to things that distract and contaminate the soil in which God desires to dwell. When the fruit in my life shows up as anxiety and irritability, I recognize that I’ve been falling a bit lazy in my farming disciplines. And yet, even then, God is gracious.
So when our fruit trees are bare, or what we’re producing is far from edible, let us uproot the deadly source, dig deep where the vine is strong and healthy, and hide ourselves in the presence of God’s rich soil.
Who are you becoming?
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
This is so meaningful to me today. I have just been pondering this summer as I have had to be a 24/7 caregiver to my husband, since an accident in May. Every emotion has surfaced over the past 3 months and I can only hope and pray the resulting fruit is edible and sweet. God has been my source of strength, grace and peace.
You are such an insightful and talented writer and I enjoy and have been challenged by everything you have written (that I’ve had the privilege of reading)
God Bless You and your family…………..Verna
Thank you, Verna. I really do believe that through our most crushing seasons comes the sweetest fruit..when we yield to and abide in Christ. Praying for you!