Spirit Fruits

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?


Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.


Fruits.


Our actions are a result of who we are. Our words are a result of the thoughts we think. A person who doesn't know you could enter your house and walk around and formulate an opinion on what type of person you are just by looking at your things. Talking to your friends, another person can ask them questions and get an idea of about you. We are often known by what we reveal. A person who keeps to themselves and lets no one into their lives will be known as a hermit, a recluse, an introvert. Someone who is boisterous and out going will be known as such. The more we know a person the more know the *real* them. Ask anyone who has dated someone how much they learn when they actually marry them and are living together- you learn A LOT about a person once you are together for extended periods of time. Family tends to know family better than anyone else. Mothers & fathers know children, children know mothers & fathers. You will hear- I've lived with them for years and never really knew them, but rarely. More often than not you know someone once you've been with them for years.


Our fruits.


Can you name some of your fruits?


Here are some of the fruits of the SPIRIT-


Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.


Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance

Fruits that are NOT of the SPIRIT would then be the opposite of those mentioned- right?

Hate
Unhappiness
War
Impatience
Harshness
Badness
Faithlessness
Prideful
Intemperance


Now, what are some of your fruits? We call them personality traits. Are you known as being argumentative, depressed, abrasive, impatient, gentle, peaceful, loving, patient? How would you describe yourself? It's important that we think about this isn't it? We are KNOWN by our fruits.


A question came to mind the other night as I thought about this a bit- the analogy of fruit. A fruit tree takes time to grow and then it takes time to bear fruit. A lot things affect the fruit bearing of a tree- weather, environment, insects, sunlight and more.


Often we don't take the time to get to know a person before we judge them. We watch them for a little bit and form an opinion on them. We hear a mother lose her temper with a child and most of us assume the mother has a short fuse. We don't know if that mother has been patient long and is having a bad day. We judge her as having *bad* fruit because of the revealed impatience we see. Could it be that the majority of her fruit is of the Spirit and just a PIECE of her fruit has gone bad? Trees very rarely have ALL good fruit on them. Some fruit grows faster than others, some have insect bites, some are formed badly from within, worms might get in some of the pieces of fruit but not all. You could pick a hundred apples from one tree and the chances of every single apple being perfect is slim to none.


We aren't perfect any more than a fruit tree is perfect, or fruit from the vine is perfect. We know and are known by our fruit and this is true, but it's a knowing that takes time. Are we a good fruit tree or a bad one? If we were a bad one, can we now be a good one? Also, can a good tree go bad?


We are a living breathing being and our fruit is continuous- good and bad. We need to produce good fruit and that comes from the Spirit. The closer we are to our Savior the harder our life will be. The insects will be after us, the weather might turn nasty, the pruning of us might be harsh. Our Gardener will protect us from the destroying power of the insect, from the harsh weather that would destroy us given a chance, and He will prune us for our own good so we can grow more fruitful in Him. If we find that the fruit we produce seems to be all bad and nothing good - we can't give up and let ourselves be cut down and rooted up- we have to realize that the Perfect Gardener can and will work to perfect us.


By their fruits you will know them- and this is true but we too have to figure out first and foremost if the tree is under the Great Gardener's care or not. If the tree is being pruned, if the insects are attacking the tree we need to know. If the tree only pretends to be under the Great Gardener's care and the fruit is rotten, we know we cannot trust in that tree.


Too many are fooled today by those they think are bearing good fruit and that is why we need to go to God's Word and hold them up against God's Word. We need to pray always and study the Word always and we will know that if someone speaks contrary to God's Word that even if it seems as if they are bearing the sweetest of fruit on the outside, they are rotten inside.


Fruit has an inside and outside and we generally judge it by the outside. If it's too bruised, if it bears insect holes, if mold covers it we can safely toss it away. How often though have you cut into a piece of fruit that looks wonderful on the outside, only to find it rotten from within? You won't know until you cut into the fruit but once you realize it's a bad piece of fruit you throw it away- you don't keep eating.


There are MANY things we can take from these analogies- but truthfully we need to pray and study endlessly and understand that we must look at our own fruit bearing and if we aren't bearing the fruit of the Spirit we need to figure out why. It might be that we've been pruned way back and are in the process of re-growth. We could be showing the effects of some bad weather. We might have been transplanted and our roots are settling. The thing is… we CAN'T Give up on ourselves because our fruit isn't ALL fruit of the Spirit. We have to trust that our Gardener will fix us. We have to keep ourselves with the Gardener- not try to take the role of Gardener. We have to keep ourselves where we can be tended to. As for others, yes, we will know them by their fruit, but with deception running rampant these days we need to hold all others up to God's Word which will reveal their fruit for what it is. Thorns and thistles abound, but pure sweet fruit exists too.


We are known.


May God help us to bear the sweet fruit of the Spirit and not thorns and thistles.
May God enlighten us as we try to discern what fruit others are bearing.


In all things may God's will be done in our lives through the loving forgiveness and mercy of our Savior, in HIS righteousness now and forever!


Amen.