Fruit of the Spirit ~ Introduction

In Galatians 5:22 the apostle Paul says that the fruit of God’s spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What Paul is saying is that these are the qualities of character that we as followers of Jesus should reflect in our lives, and my guess is that most of us want to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. The question isn’t whether we want this kind of character, the question is how do we develop it and how do we let it take hold in our lives and shape who we are each and every day? And what exactly does this fruit look like? What does it mean for us to be loving, kind or good?

These are some of the questions I want us to explore this summer as we look at what it means for us to develop the fruit of God’s spirit. Each week we will look at one of these character traits and explore how we can develop this fruit in our lives, but today I want us to look at the key to it all. There is one underlying principle that we need to keep in mind as we talk about developing the fruit of God’s spirit, and the key is this – we have to stay connected to God. While we need to be focused and intentional on developing a strong and Godly character in our lives, the source of the fruit, the strength to live a life that reflects the life of Jesus does not come from somewhere deep inside of us. We don’t become more loving and kind just because we decide to, or make the commitment to work hard at it. We reflect this fruit of God’s spirit by simply staying connected to God. The fruit of the spirit develops in our lives as we maintain a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is why Paul uses the image of fruit in the first place

Think about fruit for a moment. Fruit does not produce itself – it is formed by the branch as the branch stays connected to the vine. If you think about grapes – grapes don’t produce themselves, they emerge from the branch, and the branch doesn’t make them on their own, they just stay connected to the vine. All that the branch needs to produce fruit flows from the vine and as long as the branch stays connected to the vine, fruit will develop and ripen. If the branch is cut off from the vine however, it can not produce fruit. The branch can not produce fruit on its own – it has to stay connected to the vine, and we can not produce the fruit of God’s spirit on our own – we have to stay connected to the vine, which is Jesus Christ.

This is what Jesus is saying in John 15. If you remain in me and I in you – you will bear much fruit. But apart from me – you can do nothing. In other words, if we want our character to reflect that of Jesus, we have to stay connected to him, and if we set out and try to develop a Godly character on our own –we will fail. In his classic book on the Holy Spirit, Billy Graham says this same thing. As long as I strain and work to produce the fruit of the spirit from within myself, I will end up fruitless and frustrated. But as I abide in Christ – as I maintain a close, obedient, dependent relationship with him – God’s Holy Spirit works in my life, creating in me the fruit of the Spirit. Billy Graham goes on to say that this fruit doesn’t just suddenly appear overnight – wouldn’t it be nice if it did – but it doesn’t. It takes time for fruit to emerge and mature on the branches of a vine, and it will also take time for God’s spirit to produce fruit in our lives. It might take a lifetime for our lives to reflect the love and kindness and patience of Jesus – but as long as we stay connected to God and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us – the fruit will ripen and mature.

So the fruit of God’s spirit will develop within us as we stay connected to God, but this is not a passive process in which we do nothing – there are some ways we can work with God in the process. Look with me at Psalm 1:1-3.
Notice again that the image used here is that of a plant that stays connected to the source of life. Here it is a tree that is planted by a stream so its roots are able to draw all the water it needs for the leaves to develop and the fruit to ripen and mature. We see again the importance of staying connected to the source of life, which is God, but one of the specific ways the psalm tells us to do that is to stay connected to the word of God. Those who meditate on God’s law, or on God’s word day and night are like the trees planted by the streams of water.

God’s word has an important role in our staying connected to God. Jesus said the same thing in John 15:7 if you remain in my and my words remain in you – ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. There seems to be a direct correlation between the place we give God’s word in our lives and the development of a Godly character. I’m not sure we can fully understand how it all works, but the Bible does say that God’s word is living and active so as we read it, meditate on it, study it, memorize it and apply it to our lives – it actively shapes who we are. I’m not sure it’s quite as simple as saying, if you want the fruit of the spirit in your life just read the Bible – but I think we can safely say that if we do not read God’s word – the fruit of God’s spirit will not develop. There is simply no getting around the importance of God’s word in the development of our faith and character.

While Psalm 1 shows us that we can help develop God’s character in our lives, it also say us that there are ways that hinder the development of God’s character in our lives. Look at Psalm 1:1-2.

What keeps the fruit of God’s spirit from developing in our lives is our disobedience and sin, and the reason for this is simple to see, it’s because sin cuts us off from God. Think back to the story of Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed God, the consequence of their actions was being separated from God, literally, they were kicked out of the garden. It’s no different for us. Our sin separates us from God & while there is forgiveness and grace which works to restore that relationship, ongoing sin in our lives means that the development of a Christ-like character will be slowed down.

A great example of this is pride. As long as we try to do things on our own and think that we can handle every situation that comes our way in our own wisdom, strength and power – God is not able to give us the help and strength we need. And it’s not just pride in our relationship with God, as long as we think we can live on our own and don’t need the help of others we cut off the help and support God can send our way through his people. Pride is like the branch cutting itself off from the vine because it thinks it can do everything on it’s own – it can’t. If we think we can do it all in our own strength and power and don’t allow the spirit of God to dwell within us – not only will we produce no fruit, but in time we will die. Paul says that ultimately the consequence of sin, or the consequence of being separated from God, is death.

Now I know you may be saying, “but we can’t live a sinless life” – believe me, I know – but the answer isn’t to be perfect. God doesn’t call us to be perfect; God calls us to confess our sin when we see it. There will be times when we find ourselves struggling with sin and if we leave that sin unchecked or un-confessed it will cut us off from the flow of God’s spirit and it will keep us from experiencing the life and the character God has for us, but once we confess our sin – not only will God’s forgiveness be there, but so will God’s help, and the Holy Spirit will flow through our lives and continue a process of transformation so that we will reflect more of God’s heart and life.

This process of identifying and confessing our sin is what Jesus calls pruning. In John 15:2 Jesus says, every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. In gardening, pruning is the process of cutting off parts of the branch so the branch can be more effective and produce more fruit. When God opens our eyes to our disobedience and sin and calls us to repent and change, he is cutting away parts of our lives that keep us from Him and keep us from being all God wants us to be. As we confess our sin and experience God’s forgiveness – the way is opened for God’s spirit to flow through us and we bear more fruit.

As we look at the fruit of the spirit over the next several weeks and learn what it means for us to be more and more like Jesus, we need to keep in mind that the key to the development of a Christ-like character is to stay connected to God through a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So this morning I invite you to ask Christ to dwell in your hearts and lives. Maybe you have never asked Jesus into your life before – if not I invite you to do it today and begin to experience the power of God’s holy spirit work in you. Maybe you have never thought about living in a close personal relationship with Jesus day after day – if not I invite you to consider that way of life and see the transformation of your heart and life and character that will take place. Maybe you have been living in this relationship with Jesus for years and if so – that’s great, but let me tell you, there are ways we can all go deeper and allow the word of Christ to dwell in more ways and new ways in our heart and life. So wherever you are in your journey of faith, if you desire more of Jesus and more of Jesus life and more of God’s fruit in your life, then I invite you to confess the sin that separates us off God and simply ask Jesus to dwell in your heart and life. It really is that simple. If that is your desire, I invite you to pray with me.


God, we desire more of you in our lives. We want to experience more of your love, joy, peace. We want to be more patience, kind, good and we want hearts that will faithful, gentle and lives that are more self-controlled, so at this moment we ask you to enter into our lives with your power and grace and love. Forgive us for all the ways we try and live life on our own. Forgive our sin that separates us from you and by the power of your spirit help us to stay connected to you by allowing your word to dwell deep within us. Lord Jesus, enter into our hearts and lives this day. We yield our lives to you and ask you for your spirit to flow through our hearts and lives