Fruit of the Spirit


delicious, originally uploaded by diskostu.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love...
Galatians 5:22

The Bible is full of wonderful imagery to help us understand the spiritual truths it is communicating. We learn best from pictures and illustrations. Stories and parables are easy to remember, and drive the point home far more effectively than mere words.

The image of fruit is a perfect way to describe the Spirit's work in our lives and the character He produces in us. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that we have the Spirit of God living within us. However, it is often challenging when we look at our lives and search for such evidence. Fruit is a real and tangible thing. It has colour, shape, texture, smell and taste.

In RT Kendall's latest book Totally Forgiving Ourselves, he says, 'Children spell love t-i-m-e.' The word love, the feeling of love, the intention of love, must be turned into something concrete. That may be as simple as spending time with someone, cooking a meal, picking up the phone, sending a card, or it might be something more wonderful, like being nailed to a cross for your friends.

Comments

Anonymous said…
We are created to bear good fruit through the Spirit of God at work in us.
Susan said…
God's wonderful fruit!!
Susan
Mike – thanks for coming to my blog and welcome to the conversation.

I wasn't quite sure what you were getting at with your question, so I left you a rather lengthy comment back under your comment - please do elaborate! I will look forward to the conversation!
oops - I forgot the rest of my comment - "often challenging when we look at our lives and search for such evidence." What I try to do in examining my own life is not to look at any particular moment in particular, but examine my life over the continuum of time that I have been a believer and see if I can see, say from last month or 6 months ago, if I see an increase in fruit. I think we must also recognize that some seasons, just like real life, appear to be "more fruitful" than other. However, the fall and winter are necessary for the plants to die back and prepare for the growing season again. Without the winter, there would be no spring.
Lovely post. I was on your 365 blog - you have a real gift with the lens.
I got quite a chuckle out your comment - I think it's a matter of term use from the UK to the Southern US where I grew up - to be strong willed there - and trust me, I have been called that all my life - was never a good thing!

Determined to follow hard and do the right thing - yes, I think that strenght of will that Oswald Chambers calls "reckless abandon" is a good thing indeed!
TMM said…
Amen...the fruit of love is the essence of Christianity. The amazing thing is, the growth of the fruit is not a do-it-yourself job. In the book of Hosea, I thinks Hosea 14:8, it says "your fruit comes from Me".

Personally I have found the fruit growing as I have spent time in His Presence conversing with Him and renewing my mind by what He speaks. As Scripture says, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [Romans 5:5]

~Sidharth
Shosannah said…
THis is such a beautiful post.
One word can symbolise so so much. Can reflect so much. Can retain so much. Can reveal so much.
blessings to you today Mike.
Pijush said…
Wonderful shot and the color composition is awesome.

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