After growing up in Parkville, far from farms and agriculture, I remember being absolutely amazed to see cherries, apples, pears and more just hanging on the branches waiting to be picked at our first fruit tree harvest after we moved to Hereford. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to pick nutritious fruit right off of a tree, vine or bush without a trip to the market!

It’s no surprise that in an agrarian culture, Biblical writers frequently used fruit as a metaphor. Think back to the cursed fig tree, the vine and the branches, the grapes of wrath, and of course, the Fruits of the Spirit. But perhaps it’s a bit of a revelation just how far the metaphor goes, even in our day. Here’s a few things that occur to me:

FRUIT IS HARD WORK – a lot of preparation goes into an orchard. First the sowing, then the growing, then the waiting, usually for years, then the pest removal and chasing away birds and squirrels, then finally, the harvesting.

For us to gain the Fruits of the Spirit it is a similar process. We need to plow up the hardness in our hearts to become tender and responsive, plant the Word of God into ourselves, patiently wait and be tested, resist the old, negative responses, and finally we harvest joy, patience, peace, etc.

FRUIT TAKES GOD – yes, we plant and tend, but it’s God that provides the rain. All our hard work is worthless if a drought, storm, or pestilence comes and takes it away.

The Spirit that causes the Fruits of the Spirit to grow in us is not by our doing. We cannot achieve these on our own in any real, lasting way. We can only grow these qualities when we are fully submitted to God and His Will for us.

FRUIT IS GOOD FOR YOU – fruits contain fiber, vitamins A & C, all kinds of phytonutrients, and special sugars. They are mostly water, so they provide a lot of nutrition for just a few calories.

What could be better for us than a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control? Isn’t that what we wish for our children, our neighbors, our country and the world? It would be Heaven on Earth if everyone had these qualities highly developed in themselves!

FRUIT CARRIES THE SEED OF MORE FRUIT IN IT – the idea of exponential growth is used often in the Bible. Each apple has the seeds for at least 4 more apple trees in it. Just ask Johnny Appleseed! The more fruit you produce, the more fruit you have the ability to produce.

The Fruits of the Spirit work the same way, the more you use them, the more capacity you have to continue to use them. The more loving acts you do, the more your love will grow to want to do even more, etc. But also, we can plant seeds of love, patience, joy…in other peoples’ orchards which will hopefully be watered by the Holy Spirit in their lives.

AS YOU CARE FOR YOUR ORCHARD, THE BIGGER THE HARVEST – careful pruning, pest removal, and tending to your trees will lead to a bigger harvest in the future. Remove the branches that bear no fruit, prune some that aren’t fruitful enough, and watch the harvest increase.

Jesus, himself, said He would cut branches that don’t produce and prune others. This refers to testing and chastening us. We know there are some pursuits that diminish our Fruits of the Spirit, or at least don’t increase them. The Lord can send tests to show us just how far along our growth is, or warnings for us to cut out behaviors that are hindering our growth. As He says, this is not pleasant at the time, but our increased yield will be a huge blessing later.

FRUIT IS ATTRACTIVE – fruit comes in so many bright colors, shapes and sizes and the aroma and taste are amazing. Tropical fruits, melons, berries, citrus, stone fruits…juiced, baked in pies, topped with ice cream, chunked up in a salad, or just as a handy snack – fruit is hard to resist.

The Fruits of the Spirit are even more attractive. When someone shows love, patience or kindness towards you, it’s wonderful. These qualities can create lasting bonds between people. But even more importantly, these are the inherent qualities of God, demonstrated powerfully to us through the life of Jesus. He attracted crowds of thousands just by exhibiting these qualities, especially during the most difficult of circumstances. As we live our lives in the world, the fragrance and appearance of our fruits attract others. Someone might ask how you can be so loving to one who is unlovable or be so patient in a difficult situation. Our fruit points to the Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control of God Almighty. Without these magnificent qualities of God, we could not last a day, much less look forward to eternal life in Heaven.

Enjoy your orchard,

Jen