The Fruit of the Spirit – Part 1

Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”.

The Almighty God gives much of His instruction in similes, parables, allegories, metaphors, types, figures and symbols. This has been our experience with the Scriptures, with illustrations that virtually everyone, no matter what their background or station, can understand, teenagers included.

Alongside all of these, God adds true, real life examples drawn from the whole range of human and spirit life over vast expanses of time, making the Bible a fund of knowledge that is applicable and practical to believers at any time in human history.

A great deal of biblical instruction reflects the agricultural sector. God makes use of familiar aspects of agriculture like grapes, olives, apples, figs, oxen, mustard, pomegranates, wheat, corn, barley, flowers, farmers, plowing, sowing, planting, harvesting, fertilizing, rain in due season, weeds and seeds. He uses these ideas to illustrate practical moral and spiritual instruction for believers.

As a teaching medium, the general term "fruit" may be used more frequently than all other farming terms. In the physical realm, fruit is generally considered to be the seed-bearing product of a plant. Many of these are edible and very enjoyable and nourishing to eat. While the Bible agrees with this, it also frequently presents fruit as the product of effort or to provide a symbolical meaning.

Thus, we find phrases such as, "fruit of the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:2), "fruit of the ground" (Genesis 4:3), and "fruit of the womb" (Genesis 30:2). In the New Testament more than the Old, fruit is often understood symbolically as the product of either a good or evil life, or an obedient or disobedient life.

...Continues next week