Growing

The question for this week is all about patient fruit. Here’s what TC asked:

Ginger, in the Bible it talks a lot about patience, it’s even one of the Fruits of the Spirit! How can we actively apply and exhibit the Fruit of patience in our lives?

TC

Great question! Rather than shoot a 10 minute answer, I decided that THIS should be a three day series! I hope you be patient with me [HAH] as I spend today speaking broadly about the Fruit of the Spirit and then hone in on patience in the coming week.

I learned about the Fruit of the Spirit when I was just a kid going to Sunday School. I’m not sure I understood what they were, but I absolutely had them memorized thanks to a catchy tune. Here’s the verse that addresses the fruit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, NIV

Background info: Galatians is a letter written by Paul to a church in Galatia. That’s how new the idea of church was. They didn’t have a building or a street address, this was simply a message to the people of that city who held the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was Lord… rather than the popular opinion that he was a good teacher or a crazy cult leader. Rather than having to send his letter to the big white church on the corner of this and that streets he simply wrote to the believers in Galatia.

This particular letter is now divided into 6 chapters in Bibles to help us understand the flow of the content. Paul didn’t insert those numbers. In the paragraphs of chapter 5 Paul is talking about having freedom through Jesus from sin and death and also how to live by the Spirit, rather than by the flesh… meaning my own selfish and rotten desires. He lists all sorts of behavior associated with living by the flesh, and it’s not a pretty picture: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions… the list goes on and on and doesn’t get any better.

But… (there’s a but) Paul then says that the fruit that comes from the Spirit are these 9 great characteristics. These are the FRUIT of the Spirit. So how does fruit grow?