Welcome, 2023! I hope it’s been a great start for you! Our routines are starting to settle in and we are headed into 2023 with a renewed sense of focus! To start the year, I wanted to focus each week for 11 weeks on the Fruits of the Spirit. #FruitsoftheSpirit

I love growing things and planting – flowers and fruits. I love it so much – being a gardener runs in the family. Just ask my husband – I could and would spend all my extra money on plants and growing things if I could. But it’s a hard, time-consuming addiction. It isn’t something you can pick up one day and immediately be good at – you’ve got to work at it. It’s hard work but the payoff is unbelievable. I look forward to my rose blooms every year and am always sad to see them go.

The Bible is full of planter/gardener analogies. I mean – come on – the Bible begins in the perfect garden – the Garden of Eden – and man’s first job was to “tend the garden.” So, clearly, God thinks there is something for us to learn from gardening/planting. Let’s take a look at one of those lessons!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also WALK in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22 – 25)”

(A similar list is found in Ephesians 5: 8 -11.)

Each week we will examine one of the different fruits of the Spirit. We will define them and then look at a real-life example from the Old Testament of someone who exhibited that Godly trait. For this week, I’d like us to examine a few passages that also use fruits as an analogy and see what we can learn about the phrase itself.

“Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance…Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” – John the Baptist, Matthew 3: 8 -10

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to HIm who raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit of God.” – Apostle Paul, Romans 7:4

“Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to GOD, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” – Hebrew writer, Hebrews 13:15

“Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” – James, James 3:18

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them” – Jesus, Matthew 7: 17 – 20

“I am the TRUE vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit…As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you…By this My father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples.” – Jesus, John 15: 1 – 8

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season…” King David, Psalm 1:3

These are just a few examples but there are some important broad concepts we can begin thinking about as we begin our deep dive into the Fruits of the Spirits.

1. There are good fruits and there are bad fruits.
2. God determines what makes a fruit good or bad.
3. “Bear” is an action verb – these are not passive traits but action words. They are not quaint adjectives but verbs that command action.
4. We have a choice of what kind of fruit we bear.
5. Others will know us by our fruit.

Think this week on what type of fruit your garden grows for God. Are you working hard enough in it? Are you growing the right fruit? Do others know about your garden?

We will begin next week with the first fruit – love by examining the example of Ruth and her selfless love for Naomi and God.

I encourage you to start memorizing the Fruits of the Spirit as we go and try to actively focus on each trait throughout the weeks. I’ll be keeping a focused journal that helps me really hone in on how I can demonstrate particular Fruits of the Spirit each week. I hope you’ll join me!

Give my blog Adonai’s Appeal a follow to make sure you don’t miss each week!

FruitsofTheSpiritWeek1

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