Success in God's Eyesنموونە

Bear Fruit

The Bible makes it clear that you were created to bear Fruit.

For many of us, though, the image of bearing Fruit is a little fuzzy and hard to relate to our own lives. What does it really mean to live a fruit-bearing life? How can we know for sure if our lives are bearing the Fruit that God desires?

In the Bible, there are two kinds of Fruit. There are "being" Fruits, and there are "doing" Fruits. Being Fruits are those that develop inside of you as a part of your inner life, while doing Fruits are those that grow out of your life for the benefit of others. Today, we will focus on the being Fruits, and tomorrow, we will focus on the doing Fruits.

The being Fruits are more personal and develop from the inside out. These are the internal Fruits that develop in a person's life by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Examples of the being Fruits are described in the Bible as the Fruit of the Spirit. As these Fruits grow within us, we begin to look, think, and act more and more like Jesus. Take a moment to pause and examine your inner life. Are you more like Jesus today than you were last year?

Many years ago, I was trying to make a significant life decision. I was on the staff of a large church that had grown exponentially in external fruit. Over the past few decades, thousands upon thousands had come to know Jesus. God was at work in the church, but I was sensing God saying that it was time for me to leave. I took a sabbatical to seek God's Direction for my future.

One day, as my sabbatical drew to a close, I was driving along in my car. I still did not have any clarity about what I should do. Should I stay at the church, or should I move on and do something else? In desperation, I began to cry out in my car, "God, what should I do!" Right there in the car, I heard the Still, Small Voice of the Lord saying,

"Don, I really don't care about what you do.

I care about who you are,

and who you are is failing."

While those words may sound condemning, I heard them with a Voice of Mercy.

With those words in mind, I drove back to where I was staying. I opened my Bible to Galatians 5:22-25. I began to look through the list there, the Fruit of the Spirit, and evaluate my life based on that list. I began to ask myself, "Don, how are you doing as a Loving man? I didn't like my answer. What about Joy? The answer wasn't any better. Peace?... I paused and thought to myself "I'm one of the most stressed-out people that I know!" Then, I came to Patience. "Patience! Any line of two is too long for me!"

On and on, I read through the list. It was not until Fruit number seven, Faithfulness, that I found one I felt pretty good about. But right after that came Gentleness, and nobody would have referred to me as gentle. The list ended on Self-Control, and there I found one more that I felt ok about.

After looking through the list, I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm two for nine. I played a lot of baseball growing up, and two for nine isn't going to get me into anyone's starting lineup." With this in mind, I asked, "God, what are You saying to me?" I heard Him reply, "If remaining where you are will help you become a more Loving, Joyful, Peaceful, Patient, Kind, Good, Faithful, Gentle, Self-Controlled man, then stay where you are. If not, it's time to move on."

And just like that I had His answer. For three months, I had been asking what God wanted me to DO, but that was the wrong question. God was far more concerned with the being Fruit in my life than the doing Fruit.

It was time to stop focusing so much on what I could do and start focusing more on who I was becoming.

It was time for me to increase the Fruit of the Spirit within me.

Take a moment to reflect on your "batting average" when it comes to the Fruit of the Spirit. Are you batting two for nine like I was? God always begins with what is IN us. It is our being that truly makes the difference in our doing.

Jesus once said,

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:27-28)

God cares more about who you are than what you do.

This week, reflect on the Fruit of the Spirit in you. By personal make-up we can usually identify some Fruit that is just "who we are." I, by make-up, demonstrate Faithfulness and Self-Control. It is the other seven Fruits that I need the Holy Spirit to grow in me. With humility and repentance, begin to ask the Holy Spirit each day to develop the Fruit of the Spirit inside of you. Take steps each day to partner with Him to feed and nourish the Fruit of the Spirit in your life.

Questions for reflection:

What is your batting average right now when it comes to the Fruit of the Spirit?

Which Fruits are growing, which are dormant, and which are dying?