FRUIT in YOUR Life - INSIGHTS From the Chaotic Mind of Sagaverus

FRUIT in YOUR Life

In a letter written to the church (meaning followers of Jesus Christ), in Galatia, Paul wrote, "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. [Chapter 5, verses 22 & 23]

In today's sermon at the church I attend, the pastor preached on 2 Corinthians 3, in which Paul talks about his competence to preach the Gospel. he says the fruit borne in the lives of the believers is evidence of his work among them. In verse 6 Paul says, "He (God) has made us (Paul) competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter (of the law) kills, but the Spirit gives life."

I want to talk to you about the fruit YOU produce in your life.

Every human being has an immortal spirit from God.
This immortal nature is what distinguishes humans from other living beings.
Everything living thing on earth has a spirit of life within it.
Were this not so, scientists would long ago have produced living organisms at will.
Mankind can not CREATE or cause life.

YOU produce 'fruit' in your own life and in the lives of other living beings with whom you interact. This fact is unavoidable.

If you have a warm blooded pet, like a dog or cat, chances are it is affectionate toward you. If so, it is because you have shown affection toward it. The opposite is also true. There are people who treat their pets badly resulting in animals which are afraid of them, or hateful toward them.

It is also true of botanical beings. If you are one who gives approval and affection to growing things, they will thrive. If you are indifferent, they will not do well in your care. There is even a special word in English to describe a person who gives good care to plants. The word is husbandman. To "husband" is to care for, nurture, and protect.

In your interactions with parents, children, siblings, spouses, friends and acquaintances, co-workers, supervisors, underlings, clerks, tradesmen, and all the others with who you interact ... you produce fruit in one another. The fruit is manifest and visible to anyone who looks and sees.

For example: at the grocery check-out the cashier welcomes you with a smile. This will raise your joy unless you are determined or behaviorally unwilling to receive joy. If you are pleasant in your response, both of you enjoy a little lift. If you are ugly in your response, you will see right before your eyes the bitter fruit you produce in the cashier.

You encounter many people during your lifetime. It may be a small number or it may run into thousands. Regardless, whenever there is an interaction between you and someone, you have the option of producing, or least TRYING to produce, fruit in the other.

You can produce LOVE or HATE, in yourself and in others.
You can produce JOY or SORROW, in yourself and in others.
You can produce PEACE or TURMOIL and discord, in yourself in and others.

And so it goes down through, and beyond, the list Paul gives as fruits of the Spirit. The KIND of fruit you produce in your life depends to a great extent on the kind of fruit seeds you are dispensing to others. If you are typically a hateful person, others will respond accordingly and hate you back, or at the least avoid you. The few who will not will either be indifferent to your hatred, or they will be so filled with the Spirit of Love they will pity you and pray for you.

If you are a loving person, you will plant seeds of love in others. Some will receive and the seed of love and will bear fruit in their lives. A good illustration is the teacher who inspires the student. The student will go on to appreciate what the teacher has given, and will likely emulate the person so admired, resulting in the spreading of good will to others. A pebble dropped into a pond.

You can choose to be welcoming or aloof and unapproachable.
You can choose to be kind or unkind.
You can choose to be generous or miserly, stingy.
You can choose to be happy or miserable.
You can choose to be friendly or unfriendly.
You can choose to be caring or indifferent.
You can choose to be filled with life or filled with malaise and death.
You can choose between every pair of good/bad antonyms for your life.

The Spirit within you is capable of channeling every imaginable good gift God has to offer.
The spirit within you is also capable of absorbing every imaginable sadness, perversion and horror the ruler of this world has to offer. The way in which you interact with the people and living beings of this world, as well as the higher realm of spirit beings, determines whether you have life or not. Choose to live, and live abundantly.

Whether or not you agree with me, the incontrovertible fact is that YOU are responsible for what you send out, and what you allow to come in. Jesus summarized all this reality in a few words such as these: "Turn the other cheek", "Go the extra mile". They have become modern day catch-phrases that hide elemental truths.

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." Deuteronomy 30:19

Sagaverus 2011

[ All citations from New Internaional Version of the Bible ]