How Is Your Fruit? - Kyle E. Sims
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. - Galatians 5:22–25 (ESV)
The Fruit (singular) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, and self- control. This fruit is what God is producing in the Christian’s life. It is not just doing specific works, but it is developing attitudes that lead to particular actions. It is not enough to do the right things. You need to do the right things for the right reasons.
We can incorporate this teaching into our lives by praying through each aspect of this fruit that God is working to produce in our lives. I warn you it can be humbling if you open up your heart and life and see if this fruit is growing. We live in a world where this fruit is not meant to grow. The Fall of man into sin means that this is now a foreign fruit. What fruit grows now in our world? We see the answer in the verses that precede our passage.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. - Galatians 5:17–21 (ESV)
These works of the flesh grow like a weed in our world. As I drove some of the kids around, I saw some Kudzu by the side of the road. In Pickens County, where I grew up, you saw Kudzu everywhere. It was said that it could grow over a foot a day in the summer. It was a perfect plant to grow in our climate, and it took over. So are the works of the flesh in our world. The soul that is dead to God looks only for its interest. It seeks its own way and pleasure.
However, God has created a new climate for the Christian. Even in this world, we can grow and produce the fruit of the Spirit. This is because of God’s work in us. When I was in college, I took a trip to Tennessee. There I visited the Fall Creek Falls State Park. One of the things I learned is that the area around the falls created a micro-climate similar to one found in Canada. Here grew plants that you would see nowhere in the surrounding area. God has created a climate for us to grow and produce fruit. What has changed the climate of our hearts is the gospel.
Jesus, in taking away our sin, has caused us to become alive to God. Our conscience is now led by the Spirit. While we do produce some rotten fruit, we are also now able to produce good fruit. Our lives are being transformed, and we are becoming something different than the world around us.
How is your fruit? I admit that when I examine my own fruit, often there are many bad spots where the rottenness of sin is still present. In other places, there is good fruit, but it has not yet matured and ripened. I am encouraged to see some areas where this fruit is being fully-formed and is growing.
One of my great fears as a pastor is that our people do not take the Christian life past the initial point of “being saved” seriously. To be a Christian is more than just giving your life to Jesus at a single point in time. It is more than saying the words. Being a Christian means that you strive after what God is producing in your life. You pray for it. You seek it. You long for it. Where is the fruit in your life?