Sweet Stuff
Scripture Passage – Every good tree bears good fruit. (Matthew 7:17)
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
In the book of Galatians, chapter 5, the apostle Paul contrasts the deeds of the flesh with the Fruit of the Spirit. You’ve probably heard a hundred sermons on this topic, but I’d like for us to focus on just three characteristics of fruit. The first is that fruit is visible, just like the works of the flesh. Watch out for the tree in your back yard that is giving you invisible fruit. The second characteristic of fruit is that it always reflects the character of the tree on which it grows. If it’s an apple tree, you’re going to have apples. If it’s an orange grove, you’ll see oranges on the tree. The fruit that comes out of a life controlled by the Spirit will reflect the character of Jesus Christ. Third, fruit is always borne for someone else’s benefit. You never see fruit chewing on itself. Any fruit that jumps up and says, “I don’t want to be picked. I don’t even want to be touched. Just let me hang here,” is going to rot after a while. Good fruit makes somebody want to take a bite of it. The Holy Spirit want to produce His fruit in you so that your children and your spouse can take a bite out of your life. Fruit exists for the benefit of another. In contrast, all deeds of the flesh are selfish. The flesh says, “You made me mad. I’m not happy. You have what I want. You are irritating me.” But the fruit of the Spirit is God-directed and other-centered. The word is singular even though Paul lists nine kinds of spiritual fruit, because they all grow from the same tree. This is a special kind of tree. It can produce everything you need for every area of your life. In other words, you don’t have to go to the Holy Spirit for your religion and then to someone else for joy. You don’t have to go to the Spirit for peace and then to some other place for love. You don’t have to go to the Holy Spirit for patience and to somebody else for self-control. It’s all on the Spirit’s tree.
How’s your fruit growing today?