Fruit

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:20

When we speak about ‘the fruit of the Spirit,’ we are talking about these nine qualities of character: ‘Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23). These fruits are not for ‘show,’ they are for sharing with others; otherwise they’re no better than fruit that was never grown in the first place. When farmers grow fruit and vegetables, they do it ready for them to be consumed. They don’t just grow them and look at them until they rot. And it’s the same when we grow the fruits of the spirit too. Growing the fruits of the spirit takes a lot of effort, and a lot of reliance on God. We can’t bear fruit if we’re not connected with Him. Jesus says: ‘Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me’ (John 15:4). But it’s not enough to bear fruit, we need to share that fruit with others so they can be blessed and impacted by the kingdom of God. Paul writes, ‘For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10). If we just worked on making ourselves really loving, joyful, patient, kind, good (and all the other fruits of the spirit) people but then never showed any of those qualities to anyone, or let them feel the benefit of them, then have we really got them at all? Are we really loving if we never show love? So we need to make sure we’re bearing fruit and then sharing fruit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, a tree never produces fruit for itself. Help me to have fruit for sharing and helping others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen