“[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
We discussed in great detail in the BE-Attitude series how God intends for us to have a life overflowing with His BEST things—the things money can’t buy. Who is going to argue with having more love, joy, peace, kindness and gentleness in their life, right? And we discussed yesterday that as the obvious proof of an apple tree is that it produces apples, so too, the proof of who we are is in the fruit we bear! Jesus said:
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:43-45
You know, I’ll never forget the comment of an older Christian lady when we were discussing how our life can produce the abundance of the fruit of God’s Spirit. She said, “Well, I try really hard to have love and kindness—like when I’m dealing with rude people in Walmart—but it’s just such a struggle and I don’t always have it in me.” Her words spoke truth and reminded me of our common problem:
WE don’t EVER have GOD’s fruit IN us unless CHRIST is producing it IN us.
The fact is, there are a few important principles we must internalize if we are going to possess the fruit of God’s Spirit we so desperately crave:
- The fruit of God’s Spirit ONLY comes from GOD;
- We should not EXPECT the fruit of God’s Spirit to originate within us; and
- We should not DEMAND the fruit of God’s Spirit from others.
My friend, how many of us have spent our whole life looking for love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, compassion—from other people? The reality is…the richest fruit comes only from God.
The fruit from all other sources is a poor substitute for the real thing.
The FRUIT of an apple tree does not come from itself; and It doesn’t come from other trees. Rather, it is a combination of genetics and nutrition from the sun, rain, earth, and a healthy environment. The Lord created the tree with the genetics to produce apples and when the tree receives the conditions for growth, if it IS, indeed, an apple tree—it produces apples.
How many fake apples do you want to eat?
Before we are born again, we are spiritually dead and cannot produce the fruit of God’s living Spirit. It is only after we are born into God’s family through the gift of salvation that we receive the genetics to produce His fruit. When we feed our soul with His Word, learn to dwell in His Holy presence, and grow in the fellowship of other believers, that we bear an abundance of HIS fruit.
God’s fruit comes only from God! We need to quit wearing ourselves out trying to get it from another person—including ourselves! But then—after we get it—what are we supposed to do with it? In tomorrow’s devotional, we will explore the final thought in this series: What do we do with the fruit?
