Fruit Salad

Do you like eating fruit? When presented with a fruit salad, do you eat every single piece or do you pick out certain fruits that you don’t like. While I can’t say that I like all fruits myself, I can say that I desire to have every fruit of the Spirit in my life. I desire to experience love, joy, and peace. I want to be more patient, kind, and good. I want to exhibit faithfulness, gentleness, and self control each day that I live. I’m confident that you’d probably say the same thing too.

If you want to see and experience these things in your life, you’re going to need the Holy Spirit. Paul specifically writes that “the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit.” Who produces these things? The Holy Spirit does. He is the source of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is not us, but rather God Himself through the Holy Spirit who produces each of these within us.

If you want more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control, you will need to submit, surrender, and trust the Holy Spirit to produce these things for you. 

Partaking in this fruit salad is an inside job. You don’t have the capacity to manifest these things on your own, no matter how hard you try. You don’t just get to go out and say “I’m gonna be a more patient person.” It doesn’t work like that. To say “I’m going to be more kind” or “I’m going to be more peaceful” is like going outside to a palm tree, tying mangoes on it, and calling it a mango tree. You don’t get to just exhibit love and joy in your life by sheer willpower; the Holy Spirit has to grow these things inside of you. 

Allow the Holy Spirit to grow His fruit within you. Experience the fruitfulness of life as you allow Him to use your life as His farm. For this fruit salad can’t be bought at a store or grown in your backyard; it can only be produced within you through the power of the Holy Spirit.