Weekly Blog: How to Get Free Fruit
Apr 10, 2017 1802
There’s a supermarket near where I live, where I often go to buy food. As you come in, there’s a basket full of apples, bananas and pears, and above it is a sign: “Free Fruit For Kids.”
God gives free fruit to his children as well. Here it is:
the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22–23, NLT)
For some people, the fruit that the Holy Spirit gives is not the fruit they want. Some people want the fruit of the Spirit to be lots of money. Other people want the fruit of the Spirit to be a life without any problems. None of those things have been promised to Christians.
We also have to be careful not to confuse the fruit of the Spirit with the gifts of the Spirit, e.g. apostles, prophets, teachers, healing, speaking in tongues, etc. (See 1 Cor 12). Paul makes it very clear that everyone is given different gifts (1 Cor 12:8–10, 29–31).
However, every follower of Jesus receives the fruit of the Spirit, without distinction. That’s the difference. In fact, after speaking of some of the more externally impressive gifts of the Spirit, Paul says,
And yet I will show you the most excellent way (1 Cor 12:31).
The free fruit of the Spirit comes as part of a package deal.
The problem with the Corinthian church was that were giving more importance to the gifts of the Spirit than to the fruit. Then Paul goes on to speak about what is in effect, the fruit of the Spirit, arguing that it is even more important than the gifts. He says,
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Cor 13:13).
Paul says that you can speak in tongues or prophecy but not have love. He says that’s useless (1 Cor 13:3).
The gifts of the Spirit are wonderful, however the fruit is even better, because the fruit is given to every follower of Jesus, and it is the fruit that distinguishes a Christian from a non-Christian (John 13:35). And best of all, it’s free!
The free fruit of the Spirit comes as part of a package deal when you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. The transformation in your life may be dramatic at first, and then may be reflected in a whole lifetime of growth in love, peace, joy and kindness. It may even be imperceptible to you. But others will notice, and heaven will rejoice when it sees the free fruit of the Spirit in your life.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
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