How Do We Grow Spiritual Fruit? - Fruitful Living: How to Grow a Life That Matters

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more… Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” (John 15:1,5 NLT)

“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:7, NLT)

I’m one of those petite-type women that never really bloomed past fifth grade. Back then I was a giant at five feet two inches. I wore a size five and a half shoe and towered over the boys. Today I measure in a half-shoe size larger and one inch taller (must have been all those doughnuts in college). Despite my efforts to eat healthy and stretch, I stayed short.

We might wonder what role we play in growing God’s good fruit in our lives.

Ultimately, spiritual growth is up to God. When we receive the seed of hope into the soil of our lives and begin a connected relationship with God, He lives inside us. We get His spiritual DNA. Like a twenty-four-hours-a-day gardener, God tills the soil of our lives until we begin to grow qualities that resemble His nature. By His interest and effort in us, we grow into holy orchards. Only God can reproduce His nature in us.

But we do have a role in our growth. Just as we can’t grow spiritual fruit without God, God can’t grow spiritual fruit in us without us. Our job in spiritual growth is to cooperate with the Gardener.

First, we can be receptive. A seed can’t get into hard, clay-packed soil. Our job includes staying soft so that we can receive the seeds God wants to plant in our lives. Admittedly, being receptive can be a challenge at times. We defend against the seeming intrusion of another’s agenda. What if we’re not in the mood for God to grow us? What if we’d rather slump down on the couch and binge watch? What if we like the dullness of our days because there’s a kind of predictable safeness there?

When we recognize such resistance, we’re wise to tell a friend, say a prayer or just gently remind ourselves that God is not out to get us. He simply wants us to grow the way we want ourselves to grow: into people that make a difference and live lives that matter.

Second, we can endure pruning. Part of the growing process involves cutting off what is diseased or no longer necessary or even what is taking nutrients that are needed elsewhere.

If you ask me, it’s much harder to endure pruning than to be receptive to new growth. Pruning is painful! Someone said, “You’re not in a growth zone if you’re in a comfort zone and you’re not in a comfort zone if you’re in a growth zone.” Ouch.

And third, we can stay connected. We can’t grow spiritually if we detach from the source of our growth. A leaf doesn’t continue growing once it’s pulled from a branch. When we stop hanging out with others who care about growing, we’ll probably stop growing too. When we let week after week slip by without going to a church service or a study group or even spending some time opening up ourselves to God in prayer, we’ll shrink rather than grow.

It’s up to God to grow His fruit in our lives, but it’s up to us to cooperate with Him. Just as we can’t grow spiritual fruit without God, God can’t grow it in us without us. In such a relationship, God grows a life that matters!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, Thank you that growing in these qualities is a two-way, mutual process. You don’t ask and require that I lay down who I am and become robotic in my responses. Instead, You invite me to join your work in me and through me in the world. I choose to cooperate. In Your name, Amen.

Adapted From: Fruitful Living: Growing a Life That Matters by Elisa Morgan. Our Daily Bread Publishing https://www.amazon.com/Fruitful-Living-Growing-Life-Matters-ebook/dp/B0F55VLYJ4/ref=sr_1_1?