Consider The Source

Read: Galatians 5:13-26

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

IN WORD

The gardener plants a seed and then cultivates the land around it. He doesn’t produce the fruit, nor does he determine its exact shape and size. In most cases, he also doesn’t determine how it will be prepared, what recipe it will contribute to, or who will eat it. He simply plants the seed and does everything he can to give it the right conditions to grow.

That’s how it is with the fruit of the Spirit. We can’t force these Kingdom attributes by focusing on their size and shape, by scheduling how they will be used and in what situations, or by trying to control them by any other artificial or arbitrary efforts. All we can do is tend to the seeds and the conditions. God does the rest.

But most of us don’t approach them that way. We focus on developing patience, or we work on demonstrating love, or we discipline ourselves with self-control. The more biblical approach is to throw ourselves fully into a relationship with the Spirit without any attention to developing the fruit. If we are thoroughly in fellowship with Him, the fruit happens. We don’t strive for it, script it out, or dictate its forms. We plant ourselves in Him and expect to grow.

IN DEED

When we say we need greater fruit of the Spirit, what we really mean is that we need a deeper experience with the Spirit. We don’t need love, joy, peace, and so on; we need Jesus. He is all of those things, and He will produce them in us as we love Him and enjoy His fellowship. Our responsibility? Create the right conditions for His fruit to grow in us. That means spending more time with Him, asking Him to fill us continually, telling Him what we love about Him, and willingly yielding our hearts to Him. When we create those conditions, it’s impossible for fruit not to grow. The Spirit thrives in conditions that honor and adore the King.

ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 15:13

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO