What Happens When We Live God’s Way?

Looking at the fruit of the Spirit from God’s perspective

If you’ve ever attended Sunday school or taught a round of Vacation Bible School you probably know the song about the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sung that song, thereby memorizing Galatians 5:22–23.

These things, these fruits, are what is said to be evidence of life in Christ, a life submitted to the Holy Spirit. But have you ever read Galatians 5:22–23 in The Message translation? Something about its plain language and the expounded explanation of what love, joy, patience, goodness, and those other fruits look like when we live them out really grabs my attention.

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard — things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. (Galatians 5:22–24a, MSG)

The writer, Paul, even asks, to get our attention, What happens when we live God’s way?

His answer: He brings gifts into our lives.

Wait. What?

The fruits of the Spirit are God’s gifts to me? How had I seen this so upside down for so many years? I had always viewed the fruits of the Spirit as my effort, something I had to attain or develop to prove that I was, indeed, doing my best to follow Christ. If I love God and others then I’ll be kind, gentle, patient, and faithful — this was my reasoning, my understanding of this scripture, and yes, how I had taught it to those impressionable fruit seekers at Vacation Bible School.

Yet, I look at that verse again and again with renewed joy and thankfulness to my Savior. Paul says these are gifts God gives me…like fruit that grows from a tree.

When we moved to our farm in Texas we inherited fruit trees, trees that someone else planted. The first spring we were there I was overwhelmed with peaches from just one tree. They were irresistible, juice dripped down your arm with one bite into their warm, sweeter-than-candy, yellow flesh. So many peaches I had to give them away, freeze them, bake with them, and make peach smoothies until I could not eat another peach.

The peaches that didn’t make the cut went to the goats and chickens who happily shared my bounty. Even the bees enjoyed snacking on the peaches that fell to the ground and rotted. No fruit went to waste.

Each day that I gathered peaches I absorbed the meaning of abundance and bounty and thanked God for this beautiful reminder of His faithfulness and provision.

How is it that I missed this understanding regarding all the fruit He promised to give me, in abundance, for life? I saw those spiritual fruits as something I had to produce, foolishly missing the point that I could no more produce them than I could make peaches appear in my backyard.

“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13, NIV)

For it’s God who wills for us to do good, God who fills us with His Spirit bringing with Himself the fruits for living. And verse 23 sums up how I had missed this understanding for so long…Legalism.

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about.

Standing in front of that peach tree demanding it to perform, criticizing its weakness, or counting the number of peaches it produced each year, comparing it to the other trees in the orchard would not bring life to its branches. Providing good soil, adequate water, timely pruning, and bees to pollinate is what filled that peach tree with all it needed to produce an abundance of life.

Berating myself for mistakes, refusing to forgive myself, counting my shortcomings, and vowing to do better as I compared myself to other Christians can never produce the fruit that Paul raves about it Galatians. Yet how long as a believer in Christ have I misunderstood this essential truth? Too long, obviously!! Anyone else out there?

So what can I do to see this fruit I long for in my life develop and overflow until there is enough to share and pass around like warm, juicy peaches?

Simple. My life needs the same things fruit trees in an orchard need. Good soil, root growth, sunshine, adequate water, and cross-pollination. All things I can do, and in fact, that I am responsible for as a follower of Christ.

I can keep the soil of my heart soft and pliable so roots can sink deep and grow strong. I can allow others to speak into my life bringing much needed cross-pollination of ideas and truth. I can feed my spirit with thanksgiving and worship, and soak up God’s love and wisdom through His Word.

What I am not responsible for, and what I can’t force, is the fruit. It grows when conditions are right. It’s a gift, like all the gifts we receive from Christ. We don’t earn them but we must be in a position to receive them and allow them to grow.

The fruits of the Spirit are gifts, not something for me to try hard to manifest or produce. That attitude is useless because it’s the way of legalism and legalism never produces life, it only gets in the way.

How long have I stood in the way of God’s good gifts to me? How long have I missed out on peaches as I strove for useless gold stars instead?

This story is published in Koinonia — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, and fun.

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