Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
It’s interesting how often the Bible uses the imagery of
gardening or fruitfulness to describe believers in Christ. The Old Testament
prophets described God’s people as a garden or vineyard (Isaiah 5; Ezekiel 19).
In the Psalms, the faithful believer is compared to a tree planted by water,
yielding its fruit in season (Psalm 1).
Jesus himself spoke of the human heart being like hard
soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil for the seed of God’s Word to grow
in (Mark 4). He also talked about himself as a vine, and he said believers are
like its branches that bear fruit (John 15).
Paul writes about spiritual fruit as well—“the fruit of the
Spirit.” God chose these pictures of gardening and farming to describe the life
of a believer because they help us see the style of the Holy Spirit’s work in
our life. The Spirit’s work in us is a process—a budding, blossoming, ripening,
growing, maturing process like that of a viny plant or fruit tree. Once we
belong to Jesus by faith, the Spirit begins a lifelong process of spiritual
growth within us!
Dear Lord, thank You for Your Son, Jesus, who gives us life
in a way like a vine supplies life to its branches. Thank You for working in us
by Your Holy Spirit for Jesus sake. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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