Back to the Garden: A 10-Day DevotionalSample

Good Fruit

Since we have evaluated the rotten fruit, today we’re focusing on the good fruit. The good fruit is the fruit of the Spirit — the fruits that are best fit for a garden. As followers of Christ, we should produce good fruit in our lives.

If I had to choose literal fruits to plant in my garden, my go-to would be strawberries, grapes, pineapples, and maybe even a banana or peach tree. Even though we may be selective in the fruits we plant, the ultimate fruits that we must plant are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

For many years in the world of psychology, there has been a debate about the nature and nurture of an individual. It has been argued that the nature of a person involves the genetic makeup of that individual. In other words, it's the traits that are passed down through one's genes such as the way you look and even some personality traits. The idea behind the nurture of a person are the traits picked up from environmental factors such as our upbringing, culture, and overall life experiences.

It can be argued that we are already born into sin, which is true. It may even be argued that we were “born like this”, and I can understand why some may believe that, but the truth is that in John 3:3, Jesus calls all of us to be born again. Being born again comes with repentance and turning away from sin and any ways of life that God does not agree with.

After recognizing the rotten fruit from yesterday, you may have noticed some fruit that you weren’t even aware of. You may have even noticed that some of that fruit wasn’t planted by you. Maybe you realized the rotten fruit of fear was rooted in not wanting to be let down because you experienced that feeling for so many years. Or maybe the rotten fruit was sexual immorality or lustful pleasures that were rooted in being taken advantage of as a child or even as an adult. The rotten fruit could have even been drunkenness or outbursts of anger that were rooted in that experience of seeing your parent deal with alcoholism and those environmental factors planted seeds in your garden without you even realizing it.

Please believe me when I say I empathize with you and God is 100% aware of what you have been through. I am on a constant journey of healing as well and you are not alone in this. I encourage you to receive God’s help through this journey so that you get rid of the rotten stuff and go through life planting the good stuff.

Although our nature or nurture may shape who we are to some degree, we do not have to settle for that. God created an original way of life for us before we were even conceived. We are to be born again so that we can receive the fruit of the Holy Spirit. These are the attributes we want to hold onto, not what society encourages us to be. These are the good fruits that we are encouraged to plant so that the harvest is rich and edible.

The beautiful thing about the fruit of the Spirit is that we have access to them; we just need to utilize them more often. Now that we know what fruit we are going to plant, tomorrow we will focus on the necessary tools needed to begin gardening.

Reflect

• For every fruit of the Spirit, write down ways you can begin implementing them in your everyday life. If you are unsure, seek God for wisdom and guidance on how to grow in that area and write down where Holy Spirit is leading you.

1. Love
2. Peace
3. Kindness
4. Joy
5. Patience
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self-Control