Learning About Fruit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22 CSB

            In Paris there is a magical dessert called Fruitini which can be found in two small shops by the same name, one on Victor Hugo Avenue and the other on Rue Saint-Placide. At these beautiful stores, you can delight in a treat unlike any. Two genius French women have created a frozen, fruity, decadent concoction made directly from the flesh of the fruit. As they put it, they have turned “nature’s finest into moments of pure delight”.

            I believe God did this for us as well when He sent the Holy Spirit to live in our lives. The Holy Spirit’s presence and activity in a believer’s life is what we see as fruit of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit enters into our hearts, Christ has now turned “His finest into moments of pure delight”!

            I recently began thinking about my own “Fruitini” and wanted to take time to explore what fruit God has given me. A new friend shared her perception of me the other day and it got me thinking about the way people see each other. I am a “talk to everyone” kind of gal. I like to start conversations and learn about people. I love to hear their stories, painful or full of joy. I take pleasure in acquiring the deepest thoughts of people I have known for a long time or discovering the intricacies of a person’s family whom I have just met. So, I believe my fruit is love, joy, gentleness, and kindness.

          I haven't always been this way so, for this reason, I find the fruit of the Spirit very intriguing because once it is within you, you become a very different individual. Our maturity and growth as we continue to learn, spend time with God, pray, and design our lives after Him, begins to build in us our very own choice fruit. Our special type of "Fruitini".

            If you have never really studied the fruit of the Spirit or are a bit unsure about it, I want to provide some context so you are able to determine what your “Fruitini” is and how it makes you the wonderful gift He created. The fruit of the Spirit is an all-inclusive expression of the character of Christ in the believer's life. This means that all Christ was and is, is alive in us and it is how we show our love and devotion of Him to a hurting world. This list of definitions from, Bible Hub under the topic of The Singular Fruit (https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_singular_fruit.htm), easily explains the each fruit of the Spirit:

1. Love (Agape): This is the selfless, sacrificial love that seeks the best for others. It is the foundation of all other virtues and is central to the Christian faith.

2. Joy: A deep-seated sense of happiness and contentment that is not dependent on external circumstances. It is a reflection of the believer's relationship with God and the hope found in Christ.

3. Peace: This peace transcends understanding and guards the hearts and minds of believers. It is the tranquility and assurance that comes from trusting in God's sovereignty and goodness.

4. Patience: Also known as longsuffering, this attribute involves enduring difficult circumstances and people with a spirit of perseverance and without complaint.

5. Kindness: A disposition of benevolence and compassion towards others, reflecting God's kindness towards humanity.

6. Goodness: Moral integrity and the desire to do what is right, reflecting God's nature and His standards of righteousness.

7. Faithfulness: Loyalty and steadfastness in one's relationship with God and others, characterized by trustworthiness and reliability.

8. Gentleness: Also translated as meekness, this is strength under control, characterized by humility and a gentle spirit.

9. Self-Control: The ability to exercise restraint over one's desires and impulses, aligning one's actions with God's will.

            It is important to understand these attributes are not singular and we don’t generally display only one. Each of these qualities are connected. They may grow and change, or be seen independently at times, but all-in-all they are working together to display a Christ-like attitude and behavior in us. So why fruit? Why are these nine characteristics depicted as fruit and why do we even need to know about them in our daily walk?

Fruit imagery in the Bible isn’t random decoration; it isn’t there to be displayed to entice you into purchasing it like the fruit sorbet in the Fruitini shop. Instead, it stands as a powerful symbolic language that communicates spiritual truths in ways people can easily grasp. In the context of Galatians 5:22 fruit represents what naturally grows in a person’s life when they are spiritually aligned. When God is working in you through the Holy Spirit, growing you, changing your character, making you more like Him, we see the fruit begin to appear. Each fruit grafted into us through Christ Himself.

It is well known today farmers will often graft two different fruits together to produce a heartier, better tasting fruit, always trying to make the item more desirable to people’s tastes. A story I recently heard was of one such farmer who grafted a peach, plum, pear, and fig tree together. The outcome was an immense tree, full of massive emerald-colored leaves. Yet, it produced not a single fruit. Why? The tree had become to stressed and was focused on surviving versus producing because the four varieties were not compatible and were fighting for growth. So, how does this story apply to our lives and the fruit of the Spirit in us? We must consider what we have grafted into our lives. How stressed have we become in trying to be everything to everyone? How difficult is it to walk through life with all of its struggles and only focusing on what’s on social media, or what they neighbor just purchased, or how much money the other guy makes. Are we trying to graft in fruits that don’t make our lives better. Is our focus on the world around us or on Christ Himself who we get to display through every fruit of the Spirit offered to us through Him?

When we display each and every fruit of the Spirit, we are providing testimony to the world of our relationship with and love for Jesus Christ. In our daily walk with God, it is a gift we are given to exhibit these virtues. This is what offers a smile to someone hurting, patience when our coworker still hasn’t gotten it right, and joy even when our world is tumbling. When we focus our eyes on the cross, we can see each individual fruit expressed in an all-inclusive Savior. Then, we are able to show our loving Christ to a hurting world. But we can only do this by accepting Christ and the Holy Spirit into our lives and deciding to listen to, behave like, and desire to be near Jesus Christ.

Dig a little deeper today and seek to know which “Fruitini” you are and discover new ways to display the moment of pure delight He has created in you and then bring others into His presence through these fruits. It should be our pleasure to display each fruit to the people around us.