“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Sometimes the perception of how we produce the Fruit of the Spirit can be inaccurate. In today’s episode, Jen and AJ make a quick overview of the fruit and Jen shares how her understanding for several years was quite wrong. The Fruit of the Spirit are not qualities that we work for and labor to gain, but they naturally grow out of our heart when we are seeking God, trusting Christ and growing in faith. 

When Jen understood the Fruit of the Spirit as an outflow of her maturity and walk with God, it changed everything. She finally understood she simply needed to strive to know Christ more! 

“We place our faith in Christ, believe HE is sufficient. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. And from that belief, we then live and we make choices. As we live who we are in Christ, our fruit comes as a result of that.” - AJ

The tree analogy was a good way for the girls to explain a little bit more: as you cultivate a tree, you don't just put all your attention on the leaves and the branches of the tree.  The root system is what's going to naturally produce the leaves, branches, and fruit if it's healthy. The same way with our relationship with Christ, our fruitfulness comes as a result of abiding in the vine.

Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) notes that "The contrast between works and fruit is important. A machine in a factory works, and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life, and, in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). “

Our focus needs to be on cultivating our relationship with God. The fruit is an outward manifestation of what's going on the inside. R.C. Sproul put it plainly when he said “it is the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit that is the mark of our progress in sanctification.”

Tune in today and listen to a super encouraging episode where Jen and AJ honestly open up about the confusion surrounding the understanding of the “Fruit of the Spirit”, the meanings of the word “Abide”, and their practical ways and plans to what to do in order to grow in Christlikeness and bear fruit. 

For Further Study

If you want to go even further, we have a full Bible study on the Fruit of the Spirit! You will have access to a Scripture Reading Plan, Workbooks, creative elements for journaling, and much much more. 

Get the details here: sojoacademy.com/fruitstudy