Be fruitful and multiply
Chris Cartwright reflects on 'the fruit of the Spirit' that keeps us alive.
From the beginning of creation in Genesis 1 to the description of the New Heaven and New Earth in Revelation 22, the Bible is full of fruit.
God blesses Adam at the very beginning of human life and commands him to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, giving him ‘every plant yielding seed... and every tree with seed in its fruit’
John sees the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem, and amidst all its dazzling beauty, the ‘tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month’.
From the prophets with visions of the desert blossoming and barren places becoming fruitful, God reveals that his expressed will and purpose is that we should not merely survive but thrive in fruitfulness.
He has planted into the human spirit both the possibility of and the responsibility for fruitfulness.
It’s no accident then that Jesus talks a lot about fruit.
Raised with the abundant produce of the bountiful landscape of Galilee, Jesus was familiar with the rhythms of seedtime and harvest, sowing and reaping.
The Gospels describe him at various times feasting and enjoying a simple meal, cursing a fig tree that has no fruit and describing himself as ‘the vine’ in whom we must all abide.
At the heart of such powerful word-pictures and parables is the clear desire of Christ that we become fruitful in living for him in every season and situation.
And that fruitfulness is based not on outward show but on the inner life of fruitful and Christ-like character.
Jesus expects us to be fruitful.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called both personally and together in community to be fruitful. He calls us ‘to go and bear much fruit’ (John 15).
Yet, we are not alone in the fruit growing business.
The Holy Spirit is the great cultivator of fruit in our hearts and lives. While the ‘gifts’ of the Spirit often get all the attention, it’s the fruit of the Spirit that will keep us alive and help us grow healthy and strong in our relationship with Jesus.
Speaking to the Galatian churches in Galatians 5, Paul urges them not to live in the flesh but in the Spirit.
Living differently comes not just from outward behaviour but from a surrendered heart, mind and spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit, Paul says, will keep you in Christ. It’s the ‘diet’ that is necessary to enable and empower us to grow into all that Christ invites us to become. It’s not flashy, and doesn’t draw attention to itself but the Spirit’s fruit is life-changing.
It happens every year. I’m driving along a country lane, the sun is shining, I see a sign for ‘Pick Your Own’ summer fruit.
Dreaming of cherries, strawberries and other delights, I pull in only to find I’m a bit too late in the season and all the best fruit is gone – if only I’d come a few weeks earlier, if only I’d remembered the time and the season. Once again I tell myself there’s always next year or perhaps it’s time to learn how to grow my own at home.
I hear the Holy Spirit’s prompting as I write these words – promising to help me grow fresh fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
His fruit is always grown locally in and through the trials and hardships, the highs and lows and the extraordinary ordinariness of a life of faith.
This article first appeared in the August 2022 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details please click here.
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