The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23

During the beginnings of Covid, before it ever reached south Georgia, there was a lot of debating about locking the state down. People in Metro Atlanta were panicking, but for us, except for schools being closed, it was life as usual. We would not have known about Covid had it not been for the news. I had a conversation with a person online who was demanding the governor lock the state down. I told her that Covid was not here, and we had crops in the field that needed to be harvested. She said the solution was simple, only put one person on a tractor at a time. To her, that sounded like a logical statement. To someone who grew up around farming, it revealed ignorance about the farming industry. I am glad I grew up where I did because it gives some insight into scriptures that I might not have otherwise.

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22–23

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We will consider each fruit as we go through this study. However, today I want to consider the first part of this verse. If you are like me, we often misread this, or just misunderstand it. Paul wrote, "But the fruit of the spirit". That which follows is the fruit that the spirit produces. It is not the fruit that we are called to produce. Many times I read it just like that. I think, "As a Christian, this is what I need to do". That is not what Paul is saying.

Think about it like this, peaches come from peach trees. They do not come from grocery store shelves. They might end up on a shelf, or a bin, but they come from a tree. The tree is what produces the fruit. Also, the fruit does not come from the soil. The tree grows in the soil, but the soil is incapable of producing the fruit on its own.

Why, you might wonder, did I talk about that? Do you remember the parable of the seeds (Matthew 13:1-9)? Some soil was good, some was rock, some of it was hard, and some had thorns. The soil was people. The seed was God's Word. When the Word takes root, people are saved. It is from that salvation that fruit can be produced from the Spirit that now lives inside the person. However, it is the Spirit of God that produces the fruit inside us, not we in and of ourselves.

This does not take us off the hook. We must be good soil. As a type of living soil, we must make sure that we are being exposed to the nutrients we need from God's Word, prayer, and trying to live Godly lives. We keep the soil of our hearts cultivated so that the fruit will grow.

I also mentioned the grocery store shelves and bins. These would be the recipients of the fruit. As the Spirit produces the fruit inside us, it gets harvested and distributed to those around us. They are the ones who receive our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Yes, we enjoy them as well, but they are not meant to stay on the tree. They must be shared.

Father, You had Paul contrast these with the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh are easy. They are natural. They are also weeds that choke out our ministry and our joy that is found in You. Help us to be good soil that allows the Spirit to produce His fruit in us.