When we think about the fruit we eat, we know that sweet, ripe fruit is the ending part of a journey of growing that starts with a tiny seed.
Did you know Christians are supposed to produce “spiritual fruit”?
Galatians (5:22 NASB) says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;”
These are good qualities a Christian spends a lifetime developing. If we try our best to be loving and kind with our thoughts, words, and actions toward others, God will be pleased and these positive qualities can begin to develop in us.
Real fruit trees need pruning, a process of removing branches that are harmful to the growth of the tree. We also need pruning, which means the qualities that are harmful to our spiritual growth must be removed. These “bad branches” can be selfishness, impatience, or jealousy. Christians study God's Word, pray to ask forgiveness through Jesus, and allow God to help them change for the better over time so they can produce good fruit!
Remember the nine qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit with this handy phrase:
“Love, Joy, Peace, and a package of figs”!
We can shorten the word “package” to PKG. That’s patience, kindness and goodness. If we remove the I from “figs,” we get FGS, which stands for faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Track your progress by keeping a journal about how you’re doing with each one, and also ways you can help them grow. Don’t get discouraged if there isn’t instant improvement – just like real fruit takes time to ripen and develop, so do Christians who are devoted to God, doing their best to follow His instructions to improve their characters.
So, what is the fruit of the Spiritn? It’s a combination of nine good qualities we want to plant within ourselves to become better Christians. To remember them all, think of this phrase: “Love, Joy, Peace, and a package (PKG) of figs (FGS)”!
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
