Fruits of the Spirit
Fruits of the Spirit, Part 1
Know Them By Their Fruits
There are many verses in the Bible that talk about our fruits. They talk about bad fruit and good fruit. They talk about trusting or not trusting a person based on a person’s fruit. I’ll touch on a few of them here. This post will be Bible verse heavy post that is an overview. We’ll get deeper into the subject with subsequent posts.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:15-23)
This fruit can be used to judge others, but can also be used to judge ourselves. We are fallible humans, so none of us will always perfectly exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, but there should be signs of fruit if we are truly saved children of God. A fruit tree will have a flower bud, blooms, a beginning of a fruit, an unripe fruit, or a ripe fruit. There will be progress from one to another. Sometimes circumstances can damage a fruit, but there are still signs of the fruit. As Christians, there should always be signs of the fruit of the Spirit. If there are more signs of bad fruit, we need to consider whether our faith is real and respond accordingly.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26) {emphasis mine}
My plan is to work on a series of posts with more information on each of the fruits of the spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Hopefully this will be a blessing to you and help you to grow in the Spirit. Just keep in mind, that you will never successfully produce ripe fruit if you are not a born-again Christian who has been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Only those covered by the blood of the Lamb and filled with the Spirit of God can truly produce the fruit of the Spirit.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:1-2)
The Plan
My next post will go into some details about abiding in Christ in order to bear fruit. Hopefully you are also longing for Jesus and to bear fruit in His name.
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:22-25) {emphasis mine}
Our fruit will not be fully and optimally ripe until Jesus returns, but we should “groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” We should long to be the person God has created us to be and to be worthy of what He has done for us. I hope this is your desire as well.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:17-18)
May the Holy Spirit of God fill you and grow you and grow abundant fruit in you.
Read Part 2
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated
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