The Roots Determine the Fruits

About a year ago I had the privilege to speak at a women’s conference. They had asked me to speak about the fruit of the spirit. Specifically the first 5 fruits. Love, Joy, peace, paitence and Kindness. I’ve been thinking about that message lately and wanted to share my thoughts on those first 5 fruits.

As I was preparing the message I was digging deeper into the fruit of the spirit. It stood out to me that it’s the FRUIT of the spirit and not the fruitS of the spirit. Just as God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one - the fruit of the spirit are one as well. They are one unit. I’ve often heard people say that they need to work on their patience or they need to have more self control but it’s hard to produce one and not the other. They are not stand alone fruits - they’ve been so intentionally connected by the Spirit. The fruit we produce is based on the faith we have in the voice of the spirit inside of us. When it seems like we’re lacking good fruit it’s because we haven't listened to his voice. What we lack is more of Him and less of us.

I was thinking about how weird it is that trust isn’t a fruit of the spirit but trust is the action that allows us to be a producer of His fruits. The fruits are the character and attributes of God. It’s our trust in Him and His voice that reminds us to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. The Bible tells us that we will recognize people by their fruits. Matthew 7:16-20 says “ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” I was talking to my friend about the fruit of the spirit and she was telling me that the fruit just is. An apple tree doesn't have to try to produce apples; it was created to bear fruit. A shrub can try as hard as it can to produce apples but it can’t because it is not part of its being. The fruit of the Spirit are recognizable because it is part of who we are once we accept the Spirit. Just as an apple seed is recognized within the apple His good fruits need to be recognized in us.

The word says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, paitence, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

LOVE

I don’t know about you but I don’t think it's a coincidence that the first fruit listed in Galatians 5 is Love. 1 John 4:16 says “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

“all who live in love live in God”. The world's love is not God's love. This world does not and should not share the same definition of love. When we look at the world there are so many counterfeits of love that we don’t even recognize take up space in our hearts. It's important to recognize the counterfeit fruits because I want people to have an accurate representation of HIS love. But, to really understand what that means we have to have a biblical definition of love. A biblical understanding of how to love. There are 4 different words for love in the original Greek translation of the bible. Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape. Eros is a romantic love, Storge is a family love, love based on the bond of blood. Philia is a brotherly love, bond of friendship. And Agape, the way that God loves us and his love for humankind. Agape is perfect unconditional love that will give up all things it is sacrificial and pure. God's love is the purest form of love. Agape love is John 3:16. It is the gospel. It is Christ giving his life for us.

After Jesus’s resurrection there's that story in the bible where Jesus asks Peter if he loves him 3 times. John 21:15-19 “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” In the context of when this was written agape was not commonly used at the time to describe love. Agape became the word for love in the new testament after Christ's death on the cross. So it makes sense that all three times Peter told Jesus that he Philios him - he loves him as a brother- he didn’t have the capacity to love in the same way Jesus did. He was not capable to love - agape - until after the day of pentecost in Acts chapter 2 when the spirit came down from heaven, the love-agape- was so strong 3,000 people were converted. Peter was only able to love - agape after he received the Holy Spirit. That is the evidence of the fruit of the spirit. And the reason I am sharing that with you today is because to love in the same way God does we have to love from an outpouring of his actual love. There is so much chaos and confusion around love within society these days and if we go back to that verse in Matthew that says ‘You will know them by their fruit’ we as christians need to be able to recognize the difference between love of the world and love of God. When we have a deeper understanding of His love we can recognize it more clearly and then we can have a deeper understanding of how to give His love.

“1 Corinthians 13:4-8 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, [2] but have no love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” Every single fruit of the spirit abides in love. “He who abides in love abides in God.” I said earlier that it is the fruit of the spirit - not fruits - because we cannot have one fruit and not another. Every single fruit coincides with love. I expanded on love so much because every single fruit would not exist without his love. Every fruit flows from the abundance of love God gives to us. If he did not love us there would be no spirit to produce fruits.

JOY

We are to have joy because of God's love. Romans 5:3-5 says “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Joy is not based on circumstance. Joy is a choice that we decide because we have found it in Christ. Not because we had a good day, or because we got a new pair of shoes or made a new friend. Joy is reminding ourselves of those things God gave us when we had a bad day, or our favorite pair of shoes broke “For the joy of the Lord is our strength.” We find joy in God's past faithfulness because we know he will be faithful again. That verse “For the Joy of the Lord is my strength” is used so much in passing but when you read it within the context of nehemiah it's so powerful, it's incredible. This time 2 years ago year until about July this vs was my only prayer. I had just gone on a mission trip to the Holy Land and I was in deep grief and my soul was oppressed. I genuinely felt like I wasn’t living for anything and I found myself continually telling myself and praying “the joy of the Lord is my strength”. I read the book of Nehemiah a little while ago- probably in September and if you don’t know the story the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The book of Ezra right before it talks about the rebuilding of the actual temple and the book of Nehemiah is the rebuilding of the walls. Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem from Babylon after hearing the temple of his people had been destroyed and makes it his mission to restore it. He gathers the other Isrealites from the city and they start to rebuild the wall and they they go through all of this opposition from Ammonites and the Ashdodites within the area- they are actually working with one hand and then have sword in the other fighting off the enemy - but then they finish the wall and the book goes into this whole big list of people who were exiled and as those people return to see their temple Ezra reads the law and the people are so full of joy because they were able to understand the reading for once but they begin to weep and then V 10 says “ And do not be grieved, for the Joy of the Lord is your strength” Anyways when I read that I was reminded that joy is rooted in hope. Our Hope in God’s purpose and plan is where we chose Joy. Like Romans 5 says “ hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts.” And that just goes back to every fruit flowing from the abundance of Love.

PEACE

The same with peace. Peace is granted to us because God loves us. If he didn’t love us he wouldn’t have granted peace. It's in those same moments of suffering that God gifts us peace over all things. But we need to be careful. So many times we allow ourselves to believe that because God takes care of us in the place that we are, it means we are where he wants us to be. But God takes care of you because he loves you and no father wants to see their child suffer. We become comfortable in that provision of God. Our comfort zone gives us a false sense of peace. But peace isn't being comfortable. Peace is described as an overwhelming sense of calm - google says "It is the feeling you have while sitting under a starry sky, listening to the crickets." But true peace is more than a feeling, peace is a choice, it's a gift that is given by God. There’s a vs in Proverbs that says “ deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who PLAN peace have joy” it is the choice of peace that produces joy. Plan to have peace in all circumstances, feelings of peace are unpredictable. Any feeling of peace will leave you searching for a more fulfilling version of peace or a longer lasting version - a version that is only possible through the one who is peace through the spirit that grants peace. So plan on having it. Are you trading Gods purpose for a moment of counterfeit peace? Allow your hope in him to give you lasting peace. Grant God access through surrender so that your worries may turn into peace. Step into faith so that you may have hope, purpose and peace not just today but forever.

I looked up the definition of peace and the NIV women's study bible describes it like this “Inner spiritual peace is experienced by any believer who walks in the Spirit despite surrounding turmoil. The true “peace of God” protects the hearts and minds of believers from worry, fear, and anxiety. It transcends all logic or rationale The God of Peace who offers salvation also promises His presence and power in the lives of His children. His presence creates in us a quiet confidence, regardless of circumstances, people, or things.” Philippians 4:7 says “7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” If I want people to have an accurate representation of HIS love like I said earlier I need to have peace. If I’m constantly anxious or worried about what other people are thinking or saying, it's hard love and hard to live loved because I'm more concerned with what people are saying than being intentional about loving them. The bible says “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself” we need to have peace knowing that he is in control of it all. Peace knowing that he has intentionally created us, peace knowing that when we live in alignment with his spirit we cannot miss what he has prepared and peace knowing that he is our entire purpose. But we cannot give up our purpose for a moment of counterfeit peace no matter how tempting it may seem.

Having peace sometimes means waiting on his next steps and preparation. He has so intentionally planned out every detail of our life if we would look closely and trust that he truly wants the best for us. His love has granted us peace. SO we need to trust that he grants peace over our life because I’m quite honestly sure we’d all go crazy waiting on his next steps if we didn’t have peace.

PATIENCE

Which brings me to patience. If we go back to that vs in 1 Corinthians 13 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” Love is patient. It takes its time to understand. Patience is described as “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset”. But I think the purest form of patience is grace. Psalm 103:8 says “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” an article by WAYNE GRUDEM describes the difference between God’s grace and patience and says “God's grace means God's goodness toward those who deserve only punishment. God's patience means God's goodness in withholding punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.” and that made me start to think that because love is patient and God is love that means that grace and agape are the equal- that they mean the same thing right? Well not exactly. I found that while God is love, grace was created so that we could experience his love. But we cannot be patient without love and love does not exist without patience.

KINDNESS

And where it says love is patient it also says love is kind - because how can we love if we are not kind. How well are you loving people? Ultimately practice the love of God by listening to his spirit because if you can listen to the love of God you will be able to bear good fruit. God didn't grant each one of us certain fruits that we are just blessed with. He gave us a spirit that possesses all of his attributes that all flow from the love that he first gave us.. And while some people might be more patient or more kind than others, it's their ability to heed the spirit in those moments that allows them to be a producer of His fruit.