If you are like me and get frustrated sometimes about the spiritual growth in your life that you don’t think is coming fast enough, maybe it’s because you have fruit and you aren’t distributing it. I could do a checklist of the fruit of the spirit and say to myself that I feel that I have those qualities internally. But they are not meant to nourish me; the purpose of the fruit of the Spirit is to nourish others, both those inside and outside of our Christian community. It’s great that I am patient with myself and give myself the time to do what I want to get done. But what about when I am waiting for my husband, the Christian closest to me, to accomplish something. At times, I feel like I am patting my foot on the ground and looking at my watch every few seconds waiting for him to “get with the program.” To me, that is evidence that I am not where I am supposed to be. The good news, though, is that since I am aware of my shortcomings and what I am supposed to do with the fruit that God’s Spirit is producing in me, I think I will be more likely to nourish others the way I am supposed to. Christianity is not an overnight change just as fruit does not grow the day after you plant the apple tree. It is a process, and I am thankful that God is still working on me to get my fruit up to par and ready to feed others who need that kindness, gentleness, joy and all of the other fruits. And it’s not one fruit at a time that we are growing but rather all of them so that we can call them up as needed when we are ministering to others or just being a witness to them of Christlike behavior. I want more fruit, don’t you?

The Fruit the Spirit Produces

Paul, the author of the letter of Galatians, spends a large part of his letter explaining what it means to live by the Spirit of God. He describes what it looks like for Christians to live according to the Spirit, and also what it looks like to live apart from the Spirit.

One of the key distinctions for those who live according to the Spirit of God is that they produce certain external qualities. Paul calls these the fruit of the Spirit.

Just like an apple tree produces apples and a vineyard produces grapes, so we as Christians are also meant to produce certain things in our life.

Paul lists nine character qualities that should be evident in someone’s life if they’re walking according to God’s ways. They are:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control

Just like the fruit of a tree isn’t meant for the tree itself, but for others, so also the fruit of the Spirit in a Christian’s life is not meant for themselves, but for others. We are to love one another, take joy in one another, have peace with one another, and be kind to one another.

The fruit of the Spirit is meant to be grown and harvested within Christian community rather than in isolation. We were created for a relationship with God and others.

Take a look at the list of fruit the Spirit produces in a Christian’s life. Be honest and ask yourself: Which fruit am I producing? Which fruit am I not producing, and why am I not producing it? Take note of a few small steps you can take to grow closer to God in those areas of your life and produce more fruit.