A few weeks ago, at our house, we planted potatoes and onions. Then a few weeks later we planted tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, and several herbs. So far, we have not harvested any produce from our garden. It takes time, nutrients, sunlight, water, and growth. We anticipate in a few weeks from now to be picking tomatoes, green beans cucumbers, and pulling potatoes and onions. We expect the fruit of our labor to be bountiful.
Did you know the Spirit of God produces fruit in us? Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” In our personal spiritual lives we might want to harvest the fruit of the Spirit, but it might take some time before it is ready. Love might be ready to pick, or joy and peace, but we might need to wait on patience and kindness because it still needs to be developed further. If you were to look over the fruit of the Spirit which one of the nine would you need to work on before it was “ready”?
Are you loving but need to be more patient?
Are you gentle but need more joy?
Are you peaceful but need to exercise more self control?
It might be a challenge to identify just one characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit that needs growth in our lives, nevertheless, to meditate on these and identify areas of growth might help us to anticipate the produce we can receive from the Spirit who lives in us. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit”. If the Spirit lives in us then He is anticipating produce.
What a challenge!
For the Lord,
Alex Mills