The fruit of the Spirit is listed in Galatians 5:22-23:
 

These are the characteristics which every Christian should manifest in their life, and will if he or she is a true disciple. This does not mean that a disciple will be perfect all of the time, but true Christian discipleship, which is a life devoted to following Christ, learning His ways, and being changed into His image, will grow in these things because of having the nature of Christ.

The metaphor for these characteristics are called “fruit” for a reason. These are not things that we can just begin to understand and then possess, but they must be grown and cultivated. Cultivation requires preparing the soil, planting, watering, weeding, protecting from parasites, trimming and pruning, then harvesting at the proper time. This is the kind of devotion required to grow in the fruit of the Spirit.

If we do nothing to a field, we cannot expect anything more than just sporadic fruit to grow at best, but will far more likely have nothing but weeds and useless shrubs. To grow fruit, there is much planning and careful work involved. The same is true with the fruit of the Spirit. In Psalm 37:3-6 we are told to:

Lilo Keller, a friend from Switzerland, once shared an interesting observation in one of our roundtables. She remarked how the gypsies were some of the most wonderful, interesting, and gifted people, but there was not one single case in history of a gypsy making a significant contribution to art, science, or culture. The reason for this was because they never settled down in one place so as to sink roots deep enough to bear significant fruit. The same is true of many Christians. They can be extremely gifted, but they drift about so much that their roots are never able to go deep enough to bear significant fruit.

This is why a committed local church life and devotion to family are so crucial to bearing fruit. If we do not take the time to really work a field and cultivate it, we will not reap anything more than the occasional fruit we happen upon that grows wild. We may occasionally show love, peace, patience, etc., but it will be more sporadic than who we really are. The Lord wants to change our basic nature so that we are love, joy, peace, patience, and so on, and only rarely would we ever be anything but these things. That can only come from cultivation of the fruit, giving ourselves to working on each one, planting seeds, watering them, and keeping the garden weeded, etc.

Some may protest that this is the “fruit of the Spirit” and not the result of human effort, but with all that the Spirit accomplishes concerning man, He does it through man. In everything there is a cooperation required. I once heard an interesting story that illustrates this.

A farmer asked his pastor to come for Sunday lunch, and while the meal was being prepared, the two of them stood looking over the farmer’s fields. The farmer remarked with obvious pride, “Just look at that corn I grew.” The pastor quickly corrected the farmer, saying, “You didn’t grow that corn. God did.” The farmer looked curiously at the pastor, before replying, “Yes. But I helped. Let me show you the field that I let God grow all by Himself!”

When God created man, He put him in the Garden to cultivate it. This implies that the garden was not complete without man’s input. Of course the Lord could do everything without us, but He has chosen not to. He wants a partnership in everything, from cultivating and keeping the original Garden of Eden, to cultivating and keeping the garden which is our own heart. He will lead us, guide us, and work with us, but the quality and amount of what is grown depends a great deal on our faithfulness and devotion. We have responsibilities. We will make choices that will determine to a great degree what we become and the fruit we bear.

What we give our time and attention to is what is truly important to us. Those whose hearts are truly fixed on eternity will give themselves to that which will last forever. This is why the Lord said that He wants us to bear fruit that remains. Paul the apostle also wrote about building that which would remain after the fire had tested it in I Corinthians 3. As we read in Ephesians 1:10 that the ultimate conclusion of all things is “the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth, In Him.” What will last longer than anything else in heaven or in earth is that which is of Christ. Therefore, if we are wise, we will be far more devoted to growing in His nature, and doing His work, than in anything else in our life.

As we discussed many weeks ago, there were four reasons why man was created, which were:

1) To have fellowship with God

2) To cultivate the Garden

3) To be fruitful and multiply

4) To rule over the earth

These are still the four main purposes why each one of us are here. To be fulfilled, which is to fulfill our purpose, means that we must become what we were created to be, and do what we were created to do, which means that we will fulfill these primary purposes of man. If people are not growing in these, they will be frustrated and in discord to that degree.

We have each been given a spiritual garden just like the first man and woman. We must each discover our garden—the place that we have been given to cultivate, to bear fruit in, and to take spiritual dominion over. However, for this to work, we must walk with God in our garden. The Lord intended for this to be a joint venture with Him.

The garden that all of us have is our own heart. As we are exhorted in Proverbs 4:23: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

We must watch over the seeds that we allow to be sown in our own heart. We need to be sure that the good seed is watered, and that the weeds, the cares and worries of this world are rooted out. We need to watch over these seeds until the plant matures and there is fruit.

We also all have the garden of our own families. We need to do the same thing here. If we do not cultivate righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit in our families, we should not be surprised when the works of the flesh start to manifest instead of the fruit we hoped for.

We also need to consider the place where we worship, work, shop, and the neighborhoods that we live in to be gardens that the Lord has given us to cultivate fruit in. We need to be sowing seeds, watering them, and taking spiritual authority over all of these places until we have fruit. We must remember that we are here to bear fruit, and if we are abiding in the Vine we will, wherever we are planted.

Cultivation means work and it means responsibility. If we are cultivating these gardens where we are, we will not be so prone to pack up and leave them for a better job opportunity. Many Christians are not in the geographical will of God for them because they have chosen where they live by a job opportunity rather than by seeking the kingdom first. If we seek the kingdom first, He promises that everything else, which should include the jobs we need, will be taken care of.

There will be no true peace or true fulfillment in anything we accomplish on this earth if it is not the result of our seeking first His kingdom. If we are not doing this we will not be abiding in the Vine, and we will therefore not be bearing the fruit that will really count when all things are counted on that great judgment day.

Those who truly love the Lord above all things will always seek His kingdom and His purposes first. Those who do not are serving idols that they have allowed to eclipse Him in their devotion. Flee from idolatry by seeking the Lord and His kingdom. As Peter Lord once said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”