By Pastor Greg ...
For most of my younger years, I
grew up surrounded by orchards. That
part of Mainsville (called “Frogtown”) was filled with all kinds of fruit
trees. I spent many summers picking
cherries, peaches, pears, and apples. We
had a few apple trees on our property, and
so did my grandpa Burkholder. One
spring, when the apple trees began to blossom, grandpa took me out to the trees
and started trimming branches; he broke
off some of the blossoms as well. And I remember asking him why he did this; you
see, where there was a blossom, an apple would soon begin to form. I thought it a bit odd; he was keeping some apples
from growing. So, he explained to me
that to produce really healthy apples,
the tree needed to be thinned. Too many apples
would overload the tree. He said, the
tree might produce more apples, but
they would be small and not as sweet. So,
we trimmed in the spring to have better fruit in the fall.
Guess what? It really works.
While serving in Iowa, the church
provided us a home, and there were two apple trees at that old farmhouse. When we arrived in August, those two trees
looked horrible! It appeared as if they had never been
trimmed. Folks from the church said they
loved those apples; I thought they looked sickly. So… in the spring I did as my grandfather had
taught; I trimmed branches and snipped lots of blossoms. The folks from the church thought I was
killing the trees. I told them just to
wait until next year. Sure enough, the
next year that tree produced incredible Yellow Delicious apples. I brought them to a church meal, and folks wondered where I had purchased such
amazing apples. They were shocked when I
told them they came from the trees at the parsonage.
A little trimming did a lot of
good for those trees; A little trimming is what God does with us.
Last week we talked about how the
Holy Spirit reveals things in our life that are unhealthy; He shows us things
that need to be removed. Removing these
things from our life will help create a
healthier relationship with the Lord. And
the Spirits intent is to help us become more like Jesus. He is helping us to become transformed. According to the Apostle Paul, what we permit
in our life affects our mind and our spirit… which, in turn, affects our
actions and our attitudes (Romans 12:1-2).
According to Jesus, God “prunes the branches
that do bear fruit so they will produce even more”[1]
(John 15:2). God reveals certain things
in our life that are keeping us from maturing as a Christian and become healthier. In the end, the “fruit” we produce will be abundantly
better. By removing the things in our lives that hinder our spiritual growth, we are
transformed from the inside out. Our
thinking is guided by the Spirit, not by the world. And when we are transformed, what the world sees and hears and feels and tastes from
us is the fruit of God, not the fruit of the world.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re
probably wondering, “What does this fruit look like? How will I know if I am “bearing fruit?” Well, the Bible gives us a description of
this fruit. Through the Apostle Paul (a
first-century evangelist), God spells it out, plain and simple. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit
in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law
against these things! 24 Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful
nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are
living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our
lives” [2]
(Galatians 5:22-25).
This is the fruit we gain through a relationship with
God. Because of the Holy Spirit’s
presence within us, we receive these attributes from God. However, if we examine the words of Jesus in
John 15, you’ll notice He has instructed Christians to “bear fruit.” In other words, a mature Christian is to demonstrate
this fruit through their actions and attitudes, and this fruit can be seen and
heard and felt by the people all around us.
In biblical terms, “bearing fruit” could be described as “The effect we
have on others.”
These verses in Galatians 5
provide an opportunity for us to do a “self-evaluation.” As Christians, we look over this list and
need to ask, “what fruit is in my heart,” AND we should also consider what fruit
others receive from us. When someone
spends time with us, how do we make them feel? What do our actions demonstrate? What effect do our words have in their life? After all, this is what it means to “bear
fruit.”
Looking at the full list from
verse 19 and on, we can hold our lives up to these things and examine ourselves, but also evaluate the impact we are
having in this world. As we look at
those around us, we need to consider if our presence among friends produces
peace or hostility. Are others moved to
gentleness or to quarreling when we are near?
What lasting impact do we have on those around us?
As a Christian grows in the faith,
their transformed mind transforms their attitudes and behaviors…which, in turn,
helps transform the way they interact
with the world around them. And rather
than growing the “fruit of the world” (Galatians 5:19-21), they grow the “fruit
of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).
This pruning process, or this
“transformation” as Paul describes it in Romans 12, is not always easy. God will challenge us to pluck certain things
from our life. And in our eyes, it will
not make sense. But he is doing this so
our fruit – our love, joy, peace, patience, and other traits – fully impact us
AND the world around us. The Lord does
this so that as we change, we can change the world around us.
If you are new to the Christian
faith, this idea of being an influence in the world can be quite overwhelming. Actually, it feels overwhelming to all
faithful Christians. I mean, when we
look at the world right now, it’s difficult to imagine that our kindness and
goodness will make any difference. How
will our “fruit” overcome all the anger, hostility, jealousy, and selfish
ambition in this world?
I’m reminded of a story I once
heard about a young boy who was walking along the beach one morning, picking up
starfish, and tossing them back into the sea.
A man came along and pointed out that the sand stretched for miles. He asked, “What difference will it make? There are so many starfish that nothing you
do will matter.” As the boy picked up
one more starfish and threw it into the sea, he quietly replied, “It matters to
this one.” The fruit of your transformed
life may not change everyone, but it will change
someone. And that’s all God is asking you to do: bear the
Fruit of the Spirit so someone might
be changed.
[1]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Jn 15:2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ga 5:22–25). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
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