I don't know about you, but growing up at church and going to summer camp, I learned this song about the fruits of the Spirit. It always started out, "The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut. The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut. If you want to be a coconut, you might as well hear it, you can't be a fruit of the Spirit." Then we'd sing about what the fruits of the Spirit are. It's not found in your average fruit salad or on a tropical tree. It's found in the actions and behaviors of those who have the Spirit living within them.
In Galatians 5, Paul writes about the fruits of the flesh and the world, such as sexual immorality (from adultery to homosexuality to sex addictions and more), stealing, lying, murder, divisiveness, jealousy, drunkenness and rage, and more. If these (or any of the other fruits mentioned in the passage) are part of your everyday life, you're living out the fruits of the world, not of God. No one living their life in the flesh will receive the eternal life freely given to those who choose to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. This goes back to something I've pondered and said recently: true belief requires action. If you truly believe Jesus is your Savior, you live like it. You may mess up sometimes, and you're not gonna get it perfect every time, but you seek to live how Jesus lived. How do you do that?
That brings us to the fruits of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). These are of God, and one who lives their life in this manner, instead of living in the ways of the world, are living in step with the Spirit of God. This has led me to think of what and how I speak, the attitude with which I act, and what I should be doing to better live a life full of these fruits. Was what I said loving during that disagreement? Am I joyful in my work? Am I being patient with the people around me? Are my thoughts and actions faithful to God and to my spouse? Am I controlling myself or letting myself act out?
These are not easy fruits to live out! Though if you think about it: would you rather spend time with someone who is living the fruits of the flesh or of the Spirit? I know there are many who are of the world who desire to keep living in sin and continue sleeping around, stealing, causing fights or quarrels, drinking, and more. But for me? I want to surround myself with people who show me love and kindness, who I can live in peace and experience joy with, who are gentle and patient with me. I don't always choose to spend time with such people, but I have a desire to. I think many of us do. We don't want to be around people who are nothing but trouble, always starting fights and lying and taking what's ours, so why would we want to BE those people? For those who don't know Jesus, many don't know any better. If it's what you've been surrounded by your whole life, why would you be any different? But if you do know Jesus, you ought to live your life as a reflection of Him. After all, to practice the ways of the world is to still live in sin, and anyone who truly dwells with the Spirit stops sinning (or at least strives to do so; I know we all make mistakes). I John 3 talks about this, explaining it's about what you practice. Do you practice the fruits of the flesh? Or do you practice the fruits of the Spirit? The more you practice something, the better you get at it, so be careful what you practice.
In John 15, John writes that the good fruit truly comes from God. Anyone who stays in the Spirit will bear much fruit, but anyone who does not stay in the Spirit and live out the fruits of the Spirit will be cut off, not to receive the gift of eternal life. People will know you by the fruit you produce too. If all of your actions lead to "bad fruit", then you have no place in God's kingdom. But if you are producing good fruit, cutting off the bad fruit from your life as much as possible and choosing to live out your life like Jesus did, full of love, then you will never be cut off. The Spirit will also help you to continue bearing good fruit.
Sometimes, you don't get to see the results of what that fruit brings. There was one time, years back, the Holy Spirit impressed deeply on my heart while I was driving down the road, that I should take the sealed, gluten-free cookie leftover from my lunch and throw it out the window. I resisted, wondering "Why would I do that? Isn't that littering? This doesn't make any sense!" But I only felt more and more strongly that I needed to do it. The road turned from gravel to dirt, and eventually I hit a dead end—meaning I was more lost than I thought—and I said aloud, "God, I don't want to." Then I hit the largest pothole I think I've ever hit in my life, which I didn't even see until I was atop it, and finally said, "Fine! I'll go do it!" I turned around, went back to the spot where I felt like God told me to do it, and chucked it out the window. Then I was back to pavement and on the right track again to where I was going. I'll never know why the Spirit told me to do that, or what will come of it.
An even better example is the impact someone had on me without knowing it. During a difficult time in college, I remember eating breakfast alone on campus, and overheard some other students having just regular, everyday conversation. One of them was very energetic and joyful in everything he said—which was basically what he was known for—and his friend either mentioned or asked how he could be so full of joy and excitement all the time, to which he answered, "Oh this is all Jesus, bro." The Holy Spirit stirred within me hearing that, saying, "You can have that too." He will probably never know the impact that this passing and likely long-forgotten comment had on my life. Even during that difficult, stressful time of my life, I found that in stepping with Jesus, I was able to keep my head up when everything was going wrong and to even comfort those around me who were having hard times too. That day was the best I'd had in a long while.
Sometimes, though, you will see the impact. A conversation with someone that leads them to Jesus, a life changed because you were willing to invest in the person; those are amazing to see! It can feel fantastic to know you've impacted the life of someone around you and be told "thank you" for the fruit of your work. That's all great; however, I think more often than not, our impact goes mostly unnoticed or unseen, sometimes even by those who have received the fruit of our work. Either way, it's still good fruit, and it's still worth it to pursue. I believe the heavenly blessings for living a godly life on earth will far exceed any blessings we can receive here.
Everything changes when you start to follow and walk with Jesus. I admit I've still acted harshly or foolishly at times, still spoken or given in to fear instead of love, and even had days where I haven't lived too joyfully or patiently, gentle or kind. But I know that when staying in the Spirit, the fruit of our lives will grow in ways we may never see nor expect. That's the fruit I want to live out, even if all I wind up doing is planting a seed that the Spirit grows without me ever seeing the result. After all, a seed can produce fruit tens or hundreds of times greater than it had initially. It's all in God's hands. That's the most important part.
So, for you to ponder, what kind of fruit are you producing and living out in your life?
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