Fruit

Have you ever wondered, “If I have Holy Spirit in my life how do I know if I am yielding to Holy Spirit? How do I know if I am growing in my walk with God?” This week we are going to try and answer those questions.

Matthew 7:16-21 says, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

This was Jesus talking to his disciples, but who was He talking about? Matthew 7:16-20 taken in context was a warning from Jesus about false prophets or wolves coming dressed in sheep’s clothing. It is Jesus warning us not to just trust people because they can prophecy. We see in Acts 16:16-19, a girl who was following Paul and Silas, prophesying as to who they were but it wasn’t from God, it was a demon spirit in her. So Jesus tells us, don’t just look at the outward obvious things people want you to see, look at their character.

The same applies for us. John 15:4-5 which says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

When we are truly walking with God, our character changes. We leave our old selves behind and take on the nature of Jesus. We begin to bear godly fruit.

As God’s children, we are to live in relationship with God. We are not meant to be estranged from our heavenly Father. Everything Jesus did was so we could have relationship with Him. If we do not live in relationship with God, if we do not yield to Holy Spirit, if we do not submit to the renewing of our minds, we will not bear fruit.

Bearing fruit is something that is expected of every Christian but what fruit are we talking about? Galatians 5:16-26 says, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

If we are not sure if we are producing God fruit or worldly fruit, we look a Galatians 5, and it helps us locate ourselves. Not so we feel doomed and like failures, no. But so we can repent, turn away from sin and yield to what Holy Spirit is doing in our lives.

We never stop growing. God is always working on something in us and that is not discouraging, that is encouraging! It means day by day we are being transformed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ! More and more, we are becoming free, confident, well adjusted, compassionate, loving, patient, joyful, peaceful, good, faithful, gentle people who practice self-control and are not driven by lust, anger, jealousy or fear.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.