Fruit of the Spirit (devotion)

When Sam was little, I would run a kids praise CD while he played in his room. The songs were scriptures set to music, and sung by children. One of my personal favorites was, "Without complaining, without arguing, do, do, everything." I worked that one to my benefit whenever it was time to clean up.

There was one song, however, that drilled its way into my head and never left. So much so that even now, almost a decade later, its dulcet tones will wind up in my mind and play in a seemingly endless loop. The scripture featured in that song is Gal 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit. As it pranced through my head once again the other day, I spent some time really thinking about each fruit as opposed to just letting the song roll as background music in my brain. As a result, I felt led to spend some time on that scripture in my blog. I'm not sure how long the series will take, but that's what I'm concentrating on now.

I'm sure we're all familiar with the passage, but I'll reiterate it here. (Imagine upbeat music and children's voices raised in song) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’ll start at the beginning. What do I know about fruit?

1) Fruit production takes time. I was a biology major and I can assure you that apples don't suddenly appear on the tree. There's a whole process that includes cool words like pollination and megaspore. Physical fruit has to grow and mature. So does spiritual fruit. You don't wake up one day as the most patient person on the planet. The fruit grows as you mature, and its growth continues over your entire spiritual life. So if you fail in one of those areas listed in Galatians, give yourself a break. You've embarked on a process that takes time, but will produce change in your life.

2) Fruit is seasonal. It grows during certain times of the year and not at others. While there is always a measure of each fruit in our lives, there are periods when we are afforded a greater quantity. How many times have you watched someone in the middle of tragedy exude peace and said, "I could never handle (insert crisis here) like they are." The reason for their seemingly unnatural response to trauma is that they've received seasonal fruit. They have what they need, when they need it. Don't worry about what ifs because when the time is right, you'll have the resources you require.

3) Fruit is for reproduction. It is a distribution vehicle created for the purpose of spreading seed. Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit manifested in our lives acts a witness to the lost, and edifies our sisters and brothers in Christ. Ask yourself, who does patience really help--me or the person to whom I'm extending it? Who is gentleness helping--me or someone else? While it may make our lives easier, the function of the fruit of the Spirit is ministry. If it's presence in your life doesn't affect others, there is a problem. Jesus said the entire law could be boiled down two things: loving God and loving our neighbors. Every tool in our walk needs to point to one or the other; the fruit of the Spirit is no different.

Take some time today to read Galatians 5:22-23. Try to look at it through fresh eyes, not just as a scripture you were taught in kindergarten. Think about what each word means as you do so. Sing it with me now! The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.