Fruit, The New Year Essential

KATHY GABLER—Fruit, The New Year Essential
Fruit is healthy for the physical body, but we don’t benefit from it being beautifully displayed in the fruit bowl.  It has to be eaten and ingested to become a part of us.  Likewise we read about the fruit of the Spirit, but until they are evidenced in our lives we have an ideal rather than an impact.  The fruit of the Spirit are not an optional dessert on the buffet of the Christian life.  Neither are the fruit of the Spirit a spiritual nature that we struggle to display.  The fruit of the Spirit is His nature and when we submit to and follow the Holy Spirit (in daily choices) we manifest His nature.  Believer or non-believer, who doesn’t benefit from God bringing “gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard–things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”  (Galatians 5 The Message)