Galatians 5:22-23 says, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." Of all of the things to use as an example of the evidence of the residence of the Holy Spirit, why did God pick fruit? Looking in Genesis 1:12 we see God creating trees. "The Earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seeds according to their own kind, and trees bearing fruits in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." God decided to use fruit because it was set in stone and was unchangeable. An apple tree will never produce an orange, and a lemon tree will never produce a cucumber. A tree produces it's fruit, and you tell a tree by it's fruit. If someone is not producing the fruit of the Spirit, they are not coming in the Holy Spirit.
We are the trees, and whatever we are spiritually are the spiritual fruits that we produce. The fruits of the world are Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God." We are not to judge others, but use these fruits to gauge where we are. If we are out getting drunk and hooking up every night, we are not showing the fruit of the Spirit. We are showing the fruit of the world. If we are constantly starting fights, spreading gossip, and destroying friendships, what fruit are we growing?
We must be honest with ourselves and say that we have flaws; but even so, what are we operating in? Are we showing the world our fruit, or the Holy Spirit's fruit? We allow the Holy Spirit to step in so that we may grow His fruit and not ours; for our fruit will not inherit the Kingdom of God for us.
But what if we are trying and we aren't all that patient, or kind, or gentle, or faithful or anything else of the Spirit? We are still trees. If you plant an apple seed on Monday, you can't expect to be eating apples by Wednesday. It takes time. We must continue to nurture the seed that God has placed in us, the Holy Spirit, by watering it with the Word, by giving it sunlight through prayer, and by even going through some hard times. When your tree needs to grow more, you put fertilizer on it. Well, fertilizer is horse manure. We must be prepared to experience some not so great times either. But, even when we get the horse manure on us, we must remember that it is helping us grow and we are not alone. So listen to James 1:2-4 when you're being showered with fertilizer: "Consider it a pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything."
We must not only expect these trials, but take joy in them because they will help us grow. Now, not ever trial is here to help us grow. Some are made by us; but we must praise God in the midst of the storm and allow His will to be above ours. That is how we grow in the Spirit and produce His fruit. We must be willing to nurture the seed that God has given us, because it is evidence of God's residence in us. If we want to allow God to grow, we must cooperate and submit.
There are only two types of trees in life. Trees that produce fruits of the Spirit, and trees that produce fruits of the world. We must make a personal choice: "Which tree am I going to be?" Then, go nurture the seed that you have chosen to accept.
-D
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