Be Fruity

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

Have you ever seen those “hybrid” trees that produce apples, pears, peaches, etc., all at the same time? That is amazing. I have never grown them myself… in fact, I am a little bit of a skeptic. But I am still amazed at how they can get a tree to produce something it is not normally supposed to produce. Ultimately, the “laws of nature” rule the day… an apple tree produces apples and a pear tree produces pears. The pear tree does not say ‘Oh my, I produced a pear! AHHHH!’ The apple tree does not produce bananas in frustration! At their core, a pear tree is a pear tree and an apple tree is an apple tree! This is not very profound, but why do we as Christians seem to struggle in producing the fruit of the Spirit when it should start at our very core?

Lesson #1 is this…. Be who God has planted you to be. This means putting off the “old man” and taking on the new. Walk in the Spirit – which is to say – walk in who you have been created to be in Christ.

Lesson #2… Being more loving, joyful, peaceful, etc., is less about trying harder and more about connecting with the source of all life… Jesus Christ. That is not to say that we need to “work out our salvation”, but we should rest in His sustaining power and stop striving.

Like an onion, there are many more layers to this. Maybe the simple lesson for today is to allow fruit to grow out of your core. If you do not like the type of fruit your life is producing, allow the Holy Spirit to renew your core.

Have a fruitful day!

Pastor David