Gal 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. NIV
Gal 5:22. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,23. not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. “The Message”
Gal 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. NKJ
Gal 5:22. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. NLT
I looked up this passage in various versions to see if I had it right. In all the versions there is no reference to “fruits of the spirit”. Yet, time after time we as followers of Christ are taught to think that the Holy Spirit brings fruits (plural) and he doesn’t, he brings FRUIT-ONE FRUIT.
You see, it would be strange if God compares us to trees which bear multiple fruit since other living trees He created don’t bear a variety of things. An apple tree bears apples. To go even further with this thought process an apple tree doesn’t even bear a variety of apples. A Gala apple comes from a specific tree.
So we are to bear a fruit. When you bite into this fruit, or when a person sees our life it should have aspects of all the flavors, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. To be missing an ingredient throws the flavor off. We’ve all met and have been that follower that is just not right. It neither taste complete or looks complete. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be well-rounded in the flavors. If I’m impatient then it throws off my gentleness and possibly my faithfulness. If my love of something is excessive then it throws off my peace and self-control and what happens to my joy?
Better yet, let’s examine ourselves to make sure we are bearing Holy Spirit fruit. If kindness is lacking then it means that in that area of my life I have not allowed the Holy Spirit to really do his job in that area of my life. It means that in that department I have released my life to God. If I can’t be faithful then it means I still think I know best. So no matter how many of the other flavors I have going on, my fruit is still not mature, ripe for the picking or tasting as it should.
I live in orange country. If an orange is ripe and ready, farmers pick it and send it to market to be bought by consumers who love the taste of a sweet citrus fruit. If an orange on that same tree mind you, is a little smallish, greener or never quite got to where it was supposed to be, it is picked and sent to a factory to be made into orange juice. Each fruit on that tree got the same shot at growth. Some matured and some didn’t. So what fruit are you bearing? Are there any ingredients that aren’t being added in the correct measure?
Pastor Susan 