Fruit and Fruit Trees
| But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians5:22-23) |
- Many people try to have the fruit, but neglect the source.
You can't grow apples without an apple tree. You can't harvest oranges if you don't have orange-trees. And, to get good plump apples, the farmer does not run around the orchard injecting nutrients into the apples - he fertilizes the tree!Sometimes we focus on the qualities too much: We can read up about patience and do self-control exercises, we can visualise gentleness and we can attend seminars on "practical goodness." Especially when we teach our kids this verse, we tend to focus on trying to achieve the qualities in our own strength.
- It is fruit not fruits.
The nine qualities are best likened as segments of the one fruit of the Spirit. While one can identify segments that are underdeveloped, its always important to consider the whole. Lack of self-control is often linked to lack of patience. Lack of gentleness is often the symptom of a lack of peace...
- The fruit is the evidence of the Spirit's presence.
- The abundance and health of the fruit reflects the quality of the relationship (or lack thereof) we have with the Spirit.
- We can describe and study the segments, but it becomes academic if we neglect the "tree" - our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
- Have you ever seen a tree struggling to bear fruit? If a tree is in good soil, is well-watered and enjoying good weather, then the fruit is produced effortlessly with blossoms, green leaves, and healthy branches. It almost looks as though the tree is having fun!
