Our young daughter was
learning the fruits of the Spirit, so I asked her to recite them to me.
"Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and remote control," was her reply.
-- Laura Smith, Elkhart, Kans. Christian Reader, "Kids of the
Kingdom."
I have been trying to grow
apple trees at our camp for two years. This
past spring I was walking around the meadows and discovered some white blooms. Further exploration revealed to me that I had 12 new apple
trees growing in the brush. I
cleared the brush and was amazed to discover that the things I was trying to
grow I already had growing. What
revealed those trees to me was the blooms that caught my attention.
By their fruit you will know them.
After I discovered what those trees were, I cut the useless trees down
around the apple trees and made room for them.
The useless trees were burnt but I am going to cultivate those apple
trees. I want the fruit that they
bear.
What type of fruit do you have growing on your tree?
What type of fruit do you want to have growing on your tree?
What type of tree do you want to be?
Begin at the end and work your way back.
The good tree will last throughout all eternity but the wicked trees
will be cast into the fire.
When my 4-year-old son, Matthew, was dressing himself for preschool one
morning, he chose to wear a pair of underpants with a Fruit of the Loom label
inside. "Mommy," he explained to me, "I want to wear these
because they have the fruit of the spirit in them!"
-- Tammie Quesenberry, Clayton, NC. Today's Christian Woman,
"Heart to Heart."
Scripture
Text:
Gal. 5:16 So I say,
live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the
sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that
you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness,
orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 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. 24 Those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us
not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Mat. 7:16
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or
figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Compare the two trees.
The difference in the two is the
fruit they bear.
We were all born with a
natural tendency to sin. Christ
seeks to recreate us in His image. The
fruit we bear is indicative of who we really are.
We can seek to bear the spiritual or we can continue to bear the
fleshly. The choice is ours.
There is a tree of the World and the Flesh, and there is a tree of the
Lord and the Spirit. Notice the difference in the fruit. V. 19-21 and V.
22-23
A
Tree of the Sinful nature. Vs.
The Tree of the life lead by the Spirit.
Who are we?
We have been recreated in
the image of the Savior to be who he
has recreated us to be.
We are in the midst of a
struggle to be what God wants us to be.
We do not do what we want
to do.
We seek to be led by the
Holy Spirit. We
follow His direction through the Word.
Reaching up to the Lord. Sink your roots in the Word of God. Give yourself to the Lord.
Then you can say that you belong to the Lord. Then you can bear the fruit of the Lord and His Spirit.
Follow His direction for your life.
We have crucified the
sinful nature and the passions of that
nature that lead us away from the Lord.
We live by the Spirit. We depend on Him for our nourishment and strength.
What are you sinking your roots into?
Keep in step with the Lord
and walk with Him who leads us to become the people He desires us to be.
Let a man examine Himself. Let us look to see
what type of fruit we are bearing and seek to bear the fruit that brings honor
and glory to the Lord.
Call out on his name
asking for the power to overcome the fleshly desires.
I. Does
God expect fruit from people? (vs.6)
We were created to glorify God and God seeks this from us.
The man sought figs on his tree. (II
Pet. 3:9)
II. What
does God find on our tree?
A. No fruit - sinful life
without the blood of Christ that cleanses sin.
B.
Rotten fruit - Christians bear bad fruit
C.
Fruit of the spirit or wild
grapes or rotten fruit on Christian trees -
diseases on fruit trees in Florida - cancerous (Gal.5:22-23)
The fruit of the Spirit grows
only in the garden of obedience.
-- Terry Fullam, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3.