Behind the house where I live is an apple orchard, and I can see how the apples develop from flowers to big fruit. Just recently, there were beautiful pink blossoms on the apple trees. Then a tractor came through and sprayed the trees. I often go for a walk in the orchard and notice how things change, and at present, the apples are starting to appear. They are very small but are beginning to grow. There will be more spraying as time goes on, and in a few months, the workers will come and start picking them. They will export the apples because of their quality. Sometimes, an apple looks discoloured or out of shape. The pickers discard them because they are not up to standard. They then throw them away because they wouldn’t taste good and aren’t appealing.

 

Have you ever tasted a fruit that you were expecting to be sweet and juicy and found it dry and sour?

I enjoy gardening, but it is also frustrating. If it is dry weather and I do not water the fruit or vegetables, they start to shrivel up, go brown, and even their growth gets stunted. If I do not create a suitable environment for them, they do not turn out well. If I do not prune the fruit trees, the fruit is not up to standard.

 

The Bible tells us that as humans, we produce fruit. It can be good or bad. You can find the list in Galatians Chapter 5, verses 19 to 23. They are called the fruits of the flesh (our old nature) and the fruits of the Spirit (God’s nature). If you want to know the kind of fruit in both categories, read the verses. As Christians, we are supposed to produce good fruit like love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the old nature is opposite. Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them,” meaning that if a person is producing the good kind of fruit, then there is a good chance they know God. “You can be kind and not be a Christian, but you can never be a Christian and not be kind.” (Or any of the other good fruit.)

 

Here are two questions among many I ask to get us thinking as to what kind of fruit we are producing.

• If someone cuts you off, what kind of fruit do you produce? Self-control, gentleness or anger and impatience?
• What kind of fruit results when someone disagrees with you? Peace, long-suffering, or aggressiveness and being out of control?
• If you are kept waiting, do you produce impatience or self-control?

 

It is quite challenging, isn’t it, but we need to be constantly looking at ourselves and seeing how we are doing? I think as I get older, I am improving, although sometimes I slip back into old habits.

Just a few days ago, I was coming up to an intersection and had the right of way. A small vehicle, operated by an older individual, missed the “stop” sign and moved out ahead of me. I braked, but I can clearly remember thinking, “How should I react?” I ignored the driver and continued on my way. I must admit I did give myself a pat on the back for reacting how I did. Maybe there is progress.

This last Sunday, I decided to attend church. If you have read my other blogs, you will understand that although I have been in church leadership, because of my many experiences, church and I do not always agree. I decided to go. I arrived about 15 minutes early, and the building was quite empty, with the auditorium still filling up. Someone at the door greeted me, but when I found a seat, I sat there for 15 minutes, and not one person came up to say “hello”. You may say, “Kevin, why didn’t you make an effort to say something to someone?” Mainly because there was nobody near me, and I am a little shy about going up to strangers. I expected the leadership or the many helpers in the churches I have pastored to come up and say “hi” to make people feel welcome. That is their job, instead of getting into their clicks and talking to people they are friends with. My old nature began to rise. I felt like just walking out of that place because that is what the old Kevin would have done. I did have a struggle, but I decided I needed to show good fruit and stayed. The sermon was actually good. In that same church several weeks prior, I had walked in, and a member of the “connect” team greeted me and said, “Is this your first time?” I corrected her by saying, “No, I have been coming for two years.” I thought, here is a church that announces every week how loving and relationship-focused it is, but apart from the doorkeeper, no one took the time to greet me or realise that I had attended before. I am facing challenges like you are and often have to pause to find out what fruit I am going to produce.

What causes us to produce either good or bad fruit, to be either an orange or a lemon?

Let’s compare this with a garden.

• The environment is very important. Give the fruit plenty of sun, and it will thrive. Put it in a cold place or where there are shadows, and it will not do well. There is an old saying that says that we become like the people we are with. If you are in an environment where there are a lot of negative people around you, then you will start becoming negative. If you are in an environment where people are judgmental, then you will start becoming judgmental. Get what I mean? We need to be in an environment, where possible, that will cause us to produce the fruits of the Spirit instead of the fruits of those around us. Be with people who are good influences, stop listening to gossip, watch how other people act in stressful situations, listen to testimonies of the goodness of God, and you will find your fruit will be pretty good. I know we get into situations and environments which we cannot escape from, but if our fruit is well established, we should survive. It is getting to the “well established” point that we need to work on.
• For fruit to do well, we need to feed it. How do we do that? Good soil, water well, plenty of manure and even protection from insects and other bugs. I constantly look at my plants. Sometimes, the leaves curl, and I know they need water or potassium and nitrogen. Perhaps they go yellow, and I have to give them other nutrients. Many Christians are involved in activities they should not be. They are watching things they should not be. They are doing things they should not be, and wonder when they are in a situation why the fruit they produce is sour. You are feeding the old nature and not the new one. You are feeding the sour fruits and not the sweet ones.

It is hard for us to change, but we can. Will we become perfect? No, but there should be gradual improvement. If there is not, then we need to take hold of ourselves and make improvements. I’m speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to you. I’m often fighting to keep my reactions, words and actions in check and produce good fruit. It is hard work, but I am slowly noticing small changes. Our greatest example is Jesus, so read the gospels and ask yourself whether you are matching up to the way he thought, acted and spoke. The Holy Spirit is in us to check us when we are going off course.

Every week, I go to the supermarket to buy fruit and vegetables. When I approach the stand, I have a choice to make. If I have to choose a fruit, such as bananas, I look at them, and if I see blackish-brown coloured skin  I don’t choose those because they are too ripe and will not last long. I find the nice yellow-skinned ones and choose them. I want oranges, so I look at them. Some are very soft, and you could push your finger through the skin, so I look to buy the firm ones.

I have to make a choice as to which fruit I want to buy.

Every day, you and I have to make a choice about what fruit we are going to use or produce for a certain situation we are faced with. The fruit we produce will show what our relationship with God is at that time.

We are being watched, and people’s perception of God is often determined by what fruit of the Spirit we are producing.

We need to be sweet, not sour fruit!!!