Fruit of the Spirit

So who in here loves apples?

We are in Michigan so everyones hand should be raise, right?

Okay so I have a question for you because I have two apples and one apple is a Honey Crisp apple (which as michiganders we know is the best apple right?

and the other is a very cheap knock off that has probably been sitting in the back of my fridge a little too long.

And so are you ready for the important question this morning?

Which is the good apple?

Raise your hand if you think this is the good one?

What about this one?

Alright here you go!

So thats a little silly (total transparency I stole that from another pastor), but the truth is today we are talking about two fruits that are present in our life.

And really when I say fruits, I want you to think of the things that are in our life as a result of what is poured into our life.

And one of the fruits we are talking about is life giving and the other is actually very distructive

and the hard thing is to often we look at these fruits, and we get confused over which is good and which is bad

And really the passage we are looking at today tells us how we can distinguish the good and the bad.

So we are going to start John 15:5-6 and then focus Galatians 5:16-25

So we are going to start with John 15:5-6 and before we even get into the fruit passage this tells us about how we have to have the right source.

it say this:

John 15:5–6 (NIV)

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers…

So this is Jesus talking and iHe says how He is the vine

and what doe a vine do?

because it is what gives life to the plant isn’t it?

I mean the vine is the part of the plant that gives water and nutrients to the rest of the plant.

and really it is what feeds the plant.

So if the vine is healthy, the fruit is healthy right?

But if the vine is bad the fruit is … Bad.

And so Jesus is saying we really need to make sure that the source of our life is good and not just that, but the toxic things in our life are getting cut off.

Its kind of like if you had a boat, and their is a hole in the boat.

what happens? The boat will start to fill with water, and you can get a bucket and get water out and the boat might be able to stay a a float,

But unless you fix the hole eventually you will get worn down, and the boat will sink.

Because if you know their is something that is causing issues you cut it off right?

because the toxic areas will just weigh us down

And really this passage is saying we need to cut off the things that are toxic (which are from the sin in our life) and we need to make the things that fill our life be from Jesus.

And I want to jump to that passage in Galatians that I mentioned Galatians 5:16-25 because we are told how to distinguish the actual fruit that is in our life

and we are just going to go from verses 16-21 and it says this:

Galatians 5:16–21 NIV

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So I want you to notice that this passage tells us the results of what our source is-

And really in verse 16-17 it tells us that really these two areas contradict each-other completely.

Its almost like if you have ever been to St. Josephs Fire and Ice Festival, because they make this big ice sculpture and make a fire inside it (SHOW PICTURE)

And as you can imagine these work against eachother right?

And I want to touch on the the bad fruit briefly,

Because I feel like the bad fruit has two catagories the really bad and the stuff that really doesn’t seem terrible

I mean whichcraft, yeah Im good on that one.

Im good on the other

But then we kind of right off the others and thinkI do not have an issue with that

Selfishness- I mean I want the world to circle around me, but is that really that bad

Jelousy- I never think of myself as a jelous person, but I remember a few years ago I got a new car and my friend got the smae exact car but the model higher.

And it had a sports mode, and I remember thinking I don’t have a sports mode. I don’t even know what that means, but man it sound cool.

Drunkenness- So what if I drink a little to much,

And can I just say if thats you, maybe the things in your life are big, maybe they are small, but it is so important to find a way to cut the things that are toxic out of our lives,

because those things are not just toxic but they will cause a lot of pain with them.

its almost like one of those times if you have ever placed your hand on somthing really hot, there is almost a delay before you understand how bad it hurts right?

And really in our lives to often we place our hands on these areas not understanding the damage it does.

And lets look at the other side of things and this is where I want to focus this morning because to often we do not understand what the fruit of the spirit is.

Because we might say “wow, our church has the fruit of the spirt” because we are growing, but thats actually not what we are told is the fruit of the spirit

We might think that person really had their life together and things are very neat.

I mean they have a 5 bedroom house with a two car garage- I mean if there is a sign of the fruit of the spirit thats it right?

But look what we are told, because this next part tells us what the fruit of the spirit is:

Galatians 5:22–25 (NIV)

22 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. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

You know I want you to notice that the first three fruits are actually inward,

Because Paul starts with love- and really this is a love where we reflect the love of God in our lives,

And really this is the greatest commandments

We love Christ and we love others

But then because of this we have joy and peace in our lives.

And that sounds simple doesn’t it because its saying if you have a relationship with Christ then there should be love in your life, not just that, but you should have joy and peace, regardless of the circumstance

I do not know about you guys but sometimes in my life joy and peace feel a little far away…

I mean if I let one of you drive my car and I found out you totaled it doing donuts in the parking lot.

I could probably say you know I love you, but man there would not be a ton of joyor peace would there.

But here is what I want you to get, because this can be hard, because I am sure a lot of us have been through worse than having a car totaled

but I believe these three areas grow as we live and move closer to Jesus

Because the truth is I am someone who has been a worrier,

even 5 years ago something small could go wrong and I would go “God did you bring me here to die”

But the further I get in my walk with God the more I am able to look back and say God if you were faithful there, how could you not be faithful now.

And lets look at the next three, because next he moves on to how we interact with others

And he starts with patience- Who here considers your self patient?

I mean we hate waiting don’t we?

Know one loves going to the Secretary of state- because it will test your patience.

Then it says be kind- are you a kind person?

goodness- are we people that are up to good? Not because we are trying super hard but because its just a part of our DNA as a Christ follower that we love to help others.

And I want to focus on the last three because it moves to faithfulness, gentleness and self control

You know faithfulness is a big one, because this means that we are not just having a one day spiritual high but we are constantly walking with God day after day.

My Dad is a Washington Commanders Fan and he has been one his whole life

And if you know the Washington commanders football team, they are terrible, but my Dad watches every game, he cheers for them and gets his heart broken regualorly, but he is a faithful fan.

And there is a difference because God is good right?

But so often we might have spurts where our walk with God is alive, but often we drift away and this is saying the fruit of the spirit s being faithful in our walk with God.

Find ways weather it is through devotionals, small groups finding someone to hold you accountable. Find waysto make sure you are staying faithful in your walk with God.

And then it moves to Gentleness which a better translation is to be humble

And finally it goes to self control- I mean when no one is around, how do you live, what do you watch? Do you have self control or do you just do what you want?

And I need to say this because you might say this is hard but do you read that last verse: Ill read it again. It says:

Galatians 5:25 NIV

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

You know if we walk alone we cannot do it, we cannot walk faithfully in our walk with God if we are missing the source.

But heres the thing because we need to walk in a way where we are leaning on God with full dependence and trusting Him.

Its almost like a walker

if you have or have ever had a walker you know that it keeps you sturdy and helps you walk, but it also helps you from stumbling if a kid runs by you and makes you stumble (definitly not the pastors kid) or if you trip on something else you can grab onto the walker and your sturdy again.

and what Paul is saying here is walk by the spirit, because when that temptation comes (which it will) you can lean on the Spirit of God so you will not fall into temptation.

You are not going to give into the fruit of the flesh but when you are relying on the spirit you will have the fruit of the spirit.

And as we close I just want to ask if you asked someone to look at your life would they see the fruit of the spirit or would they see the fruit of the flesh.

Because can I be honest I could guerentee that your spouse would be able to tell you

I can guarentee your kids would be able to

And if I had to guess you could even look at this list and know exactly where you are.

And so as we close maybe this morning you feel like the fruit in your life is not where it should be.

If you have been around I say this often, but there is good news and bad news, that bad news is you cannot change the fruit of your life.

Are you ready for the good news God can.

And maybe this morning it looks like praying, maybe it looks like talking to your family, but what would it look like cut off the toxic things and allow the fruit of the spirit to florish.

Lets Pray: