Bible Reading: Galatians 5:19-26
Key Verse: Verse 22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”
Key Words: But the fruit of the Spirit
T. Dewitt Talmadge was the creative and colorful pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York in the late 1800’s. His sermons, many of which have been put in print, contain remarkable and entertaining content. His sermon God Among the Orchards fascinates its readers with its tour of Bible orchards. Talmadge carries his readers from Adam’s orchards in Eden to Solomon’s orchards in the Song of Solomon, to Pilate’s orchard and the cross of Christ, until we reach the orchard in Heaven.
There is just nothing quite like fruit: tasty, healthy, and a wide variety. Every year at Thanksgiving our ladies put together a Thanksgiving basket for our senior saints. There are a number of things in these baskets but the primary component is fruit.
There is something special about fruit: the colors, the shapes, the sizes, the smells. The English word fruit comes from the Latin frui which means “to enjoy or take pleasure in.” What would life be without fruit? Fruit puts freshness and sweetness on our tables.
Paul, describing Christian character, uses the picture of fruit. The reason for this is that fruit is the result on the outside of the tree, that shows the life and work which is taking place on the inside of the tree.
The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the work taking place on the inside of our lives. You know what is on the inside of a person by what is produced on the outside.
Spirit fruit is not the result of any work we do, but rather it is the result of the Holy Spirit working within.
Fruit does not grow naturally – weeds grow naturally – fruit grows supernaturally. What fruit are you producing today?
What to do:
✞ Honestly evaluate the fruit in your life.
✞ Understand that love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance cannot be worked out unless they are first produced within by the Holy Spirit.
✞ Producing fruit doesn’t save you; it just lets others know that you are saved.
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