What Fruit is on your tree? Fruit Check

What fruit is on 
your tree?

Fruit Check 

    When you were a kid I’m sure your parents told you how important it was to eat your fruit. Fruit is important, it gives us energy, enzymes that we need, and many other things that are essential to optimal health. Just like the physical fruit that gives us everything we need to be healthy there is spiritual fruit that we need for our spiritual health. The fruit that you bear is displayed in the lifestyle that we live day in and day out.

    Living in this world can get hectic, your job can stress you, your family may not be acting right, everything may seem to be going downhill but what is faith if it’s only displayed in the good times? We are to display the fruits of the spirit daily in all that we do. It’s easy to display them when all is going well but, what about when times are not going well? Are you showing love, peace, and patience, or are you showing hatred, wrath and envy?

What fruit is on your tree? What does your lifestyle show others? Do they see the God in you? Or the ways of this wicked world? Galatians 5:22-23 is a good scripture describing the fruit we are to bear…

“²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23

    As Christians we ARE to bear these fruit. Not most of them, not some of them, not whichever ones we choose, but ALL of them. We also aren’t to bear them when we feel like it but, we are to bear these DAILY!!!! People are watching us; sometimes we are the only Jesus someone sees. If we are bearing the fruits of the flesh when they see us, we can miss out on helping someone get saved. I know sometimes it seems unrealistic, but we have to work on bearing the fruits of the spirit at all times.

In this chart below we will explore what these fruit mean exactly:

Fruit	Greek Definition
LOVE	Affection/benevolence
JOY	Gladness/cheerfulness
PEACE	Quietness/Rest
LONGSUFFERING	Patience (endurance in difficult situations)
GENTLENESS	Excellence (in character)/kindness
GOODNESS	Virtue/beneficence
FAITH	Reliance upon Jesus for salvation/Assurance/Belief
MEEKNESS	Humility (being modest and having respect)
TEMPERANCE	Self-control

Are you bearing these fruits? Are you practicing temperance when you deal with that person who tries to get under your skin? Is your life full of peace? Are you showing love to that person who tries to tear you down daily? The list of questions could go on but it’s to make the point, though it doesn’t look easy, it is attainable. When I think I can’t love someone I remember how God loves me, when I can’t control myself I remember how Jesus was spit on, beat on, talked about and still remained humble. Jesus is the perfect example of displaying the fruits of the Spirit. Jesus is God yes, but God came down as Jesus in the flesh to suffer as we suffer. Jesus didn’t come down in the Spirit, he became a man. If Jesus can do it why can’t we? After all we are supposed to be like our daddy!

God loves us even when we are caught up in our mess, but we can’t love someone who talks about us. Sometimes you may have to sit and ask yourself do I love in this situation, am I showing my faith in God, and am I being meek, practicing temperance, am I showing the love of the Father through me in this? I don’t say this to make anyone feel bad but God wants us to have these fruits in our life daily. When you wake up each day ask the Lord to help you display the fruit of the Spirit in your life today. Speak, I will be patient, I will love, I will be meek, I will have joy. You have the authority and the ability to speak to your situation. If you want change it starts with believing and claiming it with your mouth. The change may not come overnight, and don’t expect it to but know its coming.

When you struggle in a specific area see what the word says, look up every scripture on that topic. I have some listed below:

FRUIT	SCRIPTURE
LOVE	John 13:34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”
JOY	Psalms 47:1 “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!”
PEACE	Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
LONGSUFFERING	James 1:4 “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
GENTLENESS	Galatians 6:1 "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
GOODNESS	John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
FAITH	Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
MEEKNESS	Psalm 147:6 “The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.”
TEMPERANCE	1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed”

      I will close with this, the fruit that grows on your tree is a result of a seed that was planted and grew. If your seed isn't our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ I encourage you to make him your seed. He is waiting for you to accept him so he can help you and your tree to grow. God is the one who will help you to bare these fruit daily. The bible says in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me”. You may not be able to do it on your own but God can give you the strength as well as the guidance and direction to make these fruits a part of your life.

    God has to be the source of your life. When you have a source and you need power, you plug in, if he’s your source, to get power you must plug into him. You must get to know him. To get to know him you must spend time with him. Get in your word, fast, pray; learn to praise him in the good and the bad. The people and things around you can influence you. Examine your life; eliminate those things and people that may be causing you to not bear the fruits that God wants us to display (LIFE GIVERS ONLY). Change is never easy, but it is often times necessary. Let go of seasonal people and grab hold of the blessings that the Lord has in store for you.

    I truly hope you learn from this and begin to examine not only your fruit, but also, the seed from which that fruit is growing. We have got to stop bearing the fruit of the flesh, we have got to deny ourselves, die to this flesh, put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), and bear the fruit of the spirit.

Stay connected to the source, you can do it!

Also, feel free to email me with prayer requests or if you need to talk:wpdit@yahoo.com

I love you all!

God bless!

Tamika