What's So Important About Fruit?
John 15:4 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear much fruit unless you remain in me.”
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” These are words from Jesus in the book of John. He is telling us that unless we have him involved in our lives, we are not going to bear much fruit. What’s so important about fruit?
Further on in John 15, verse 8 says, “This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Fruit is an outward sign that we have Jesus in our lives, that we strive to live a Godly life. In addition, if our fruit isn’t healthy, our marriage is not going to be healthy.
What exactly is “fruit” though? The Bible talks frequently about it. We all know the difference between a bad apple and a good apple. A good year for the orange juice industry is when the oranges of Florida are plentiful and juicy. This is a great analogy He uses that our simple minds can grasp. A tree has either good fruit or bad fruit. The same with people.
So what is “people fruit?” It is all the good (or bad) that comes out of us. It is the product or consequence of what we do.
Galatians 5:22-23 says it best. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
These characteristics cannot be produced on our own by following the law of the Bible. They will only come by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Sure, some of these may come naturally to your personality, but we need the Holy Spirit to live a full life in all of them.
What is NOT the fruit of the Spirit? The previous verses of Galatians 5 (19-21) tell us, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealous, fits of rage, SELFISH AMBITION, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” These acts of the sinful nature do not produce fruit in our lives.
I capitalized SELFISH AMBITION because that is the act that will cause major problems in every marriage.
What does your fruit look like? How does it reflect the state of your marriage?
*More to come on “fruits”!
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” These are words from Jesus in the book of John. He is telling us that unless we have him involved in our lives, we are not going to bear much fruit. What’s so important about fruit?
Further on in John 15, verse 8 says, “This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Fruit is an outward sign that we have Jesus in our lives, that we strive to live a Godly life. In addition, if our fruit isn’t healthy, our marriage is not going to be healthy.
What exactly is “fruit” though? The Bible talks frequently about it. We all know the difference between a bad apple and a good apple. A good year for the orange juice industry is when the oranges of Florida are plentiful and juicy. This is a great analogy He uses that our simple minds can grasp. A tree has either good fruit or bad fruit. The same with people.
So what is “people fruit?” It is all the good (or bad) that comes out of us. It is the product or consequence of what we do.
Galatians 5:22-23 says it best. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
These characteristics cannot be produced on our own by following the law of the Bible. They will only come by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Sure, some of these may come naturally to your personality, but we need the Holy Spirit to live a full life in all of them.
What is NOT the fruit of the Spirit? The previous verses of Galatians 5 (19-21) tell us, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealous, fits of rage, SELFISH AMBITION, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” These acts of the sinful nature do not produce fruit in our lives.
I capitalized SELFISH AMBITION because that is the act that will cause major problems in every marriage.
What does your fruit look like? How does it reflect the state of your marriage?
*More to come on “fruits”!
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