Understanding Fruit

“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

            -Galatians 5:22

There are few things more precious than listening to hundreds of children sing about the fruit of the spirit; yet, that is exactly what I was able to experience a few weeks ago during our church’s Vacation Bible School. Every morning, the kids would acknowledge through song that the fruit of the spirit is not a coconut, or a cherry, or a grape. Instead, it is powerful emotions that guide our lives.

But why fruit? With all of the parables and examples available to Jesus, why would He choose to entitle this list fruit of the spirit?

Fruit has a very specific two-fold purpose. First, fruit works to sustains us. It is a healthy, God-given, and natural food source that keeps us healthy and balances our diet. More importantly though, is the fact that the fleshy portion of fruit protects the seed inside. It works to create a heartier seed that has the potential to spread even better seeds in the future.

This is the exact purpose the fruit of the spirit has for us. Living a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control sustains us. It gives us energy to go on when we may want to give up. And, allowing these emotions to be our focal point enables us live healthier lives. More importantly, when we keep these fruits of the spirit central in our hearts, we are protecting the seed of faith and hope God has planted in each of us. Because of this, we will be able to continue passing that seed on, knowing it has the ability to grow in others.