ARE YOU A FRUIT INSPECTOR?
Heeeyyyyyyyy y’all, welcome back!! Here we are with another blog post and this week I feel led to to dive deeper in to the fruit of the spirit. This is a post that will provide clarity and insight + equip you to begin to inspect fruit. Press in!!
Let’s start off with Galatians 5:22-26 NKJV “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” 9 very important fruits that are designed to build character and essentially allow us to become more like Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit within us; it's a way to manifest God's nature in our daily lives and interactions with others. The word “fruit” in Galatians 5 is used singularly-have you ever noticed that? Well, it is used that way because it is referring to fruit as a cluster, such that all the qualities are to be manifested in each believer. Please understand this, the fruit of the Spirit can ALWAYS conquer the flesh. ALWAYS!! The fruit can be seen in our characters and has several important components including:
fruit is NOT achieved by our own works but is BIRTHED by abiding
fruit is fragile
fruit reproduces itself
fruit is attractive
fruit nourishes
Did you catch it? Those 5 components deserve to be highlighted and re-read- stick a pin right there because that is so important. Since we have discussed a little bit about fruit, let’s take a deeper look in to what an inspector is/does. An inspector is someone who manages and mitigates risk effectively in order to ensure the safety and well-being of others (and one’s self) in order to respond effectively to problems, incidents and crimes. An inspector has a job or duty to officially inspect something, collect data, and reveal critical information about that which they are inspecting. Synonyms for inspector include:
investigator
assessor
checker
auditor
examiner
Let’s rewind shall we….An inspector has a job or duty to officially inspect something, collect data, and reveal critical information about that which they are inspecting. Lisssteeeennnnn, did you catch it? Do you see the responsibility of a believer? Do you see how we are supposed to collect data and reveal critical information (as led by the Holy Spirit of course-follow prophetic protocol ALWAYS) about that which we are inspecting. Please note: sometimes the thing that is revealed is only for you and should be prayed in to (intercession/prophetic intercession is key here-more on this topic another time). But, it is our role and duty as believers of Jesus Christ. INSPECT THE FRUIT!!! Matthew 7:20 reminds us “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” PERIOD. Not by their words, not by their charm, not by their ability to prophesy, not because they know scripture (hearers and not doers of the word), not because of their deeds that they perform just so they can be recognized or be in the limelight, but by their fruit. They may say that they are a believer but what is their fruit showing/saying?
The fruit of the spirit includes:
Love- good will, benevolence
Joy- gladness (regardless of what is happening around you)
Peace- a state of tranquility, security, safety: the way that leads to salvation
Longsuffering- slowness in avenging wrongs, patience, steadfastness, perseverance
Kindness- gentle, meek
Goodness- uprightness of heart
Faithfulness- conviction of TRUTH
Gentleness- meekness, integrity
Self-control- the virtue of one who master’s his/her desires and passions, especially sensual appetites
Let’s dive deeper and break down each fruit a little bit more.
LOVE: encompasses all the fruit and the following eight fruit are just describing what love in action looks like; love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit. This is above and beyond natural affection, or the loyalty to blood or family simply because “that’s family”…this is loving people who aren’t easy to love, loving people who don’t like you.
JOY: greater than just the thrill of an exciting experience or a wonderful set of circumstances; it is a joy that can ABIDE and REMAIN, even when circumstances seem terrible; not the joy that comes from earthly things, but a joy whose foundation is God.
PEACE: peace with God, peace with people and filled with blessing and goodness….not simply the absence of fighting; it is a higher peace than what comes when everything is calm and settles- it is a peace which surpasses all understanding, a pervading consciousness that our times are in the hands of God.
LONGSUFFERING: enables a person to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and make them patient to wait for improvement of those who have done them wrong, to withstand the continued assaults of the devil we must be longsuffering and patient enough to wait for the devil to get tired of his own games.
KINDNESS AND GOODNESS: are closely related; the only difference is that goodness also has with it the idea of generosity; it includes moral goodness and integrity.
FAITHFULNESS: God works faithfulness in us, both to God and to people. It is the characteristic of the person who is reliable; the ability to serve God faithfully through the years and through the temptations of life; the conviction of TRUTH and the confession of your faith.
GENTLENESS: being teachable, not having a superior attitude; not demanding one’s rights. It is NOT timidity or passiveness; it is the quality of the person who is angry at the right time (righteous indignation) and never at the wrong time.
SELF-CONTROL: is not for selfish reasons, as the world knows it to be, but it will work on behalf of others; the virtue of one who master’s his/her desires and passions, especially sensual appetites.
I pray that that breakdown not only helped you but that it shed a light and blessed you- and provided clarity into the fruit of the spirit. Matthew 7: 16-18 NKJV reads, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” What type of fruit is being produced?
It is important to inspect fruit. I often think of this analogy: when you go to the grocery store for fruit, you check it and look at it, before you bag it up and purchase it. You check it to ensure that there are no pesticides or infestations- you check it to make sure that it is not rotten. You want to make sure that the fruit is quality fruit before you ingest it. You inspect it because the fruit itself could look completely delicious; it may not look rotten, however, outside things have attached to the fruit, making it harmful (listen, that’ll preach all by itself). We need to do our part and inspect the fruit!!
The Spirit of God has ONE work to do in all of us. God is good enough and is big enough to change everything with the fruit of the Spirit. And remember, the fruit of the Spirit can ALWAYS conquer the works of the flesh.
I hope that this has better equipped you in understanding the necessity of being a fruit inspector. Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to be fruit inspectors so that we are not easily deceived. Increase our discernment and align our convictions with Your will and Your word. We pray for wisdom and we ask that You continue to grow us in stature and in character so that we look more like Jesus, daily. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Please comment below and share your thoughts and and feel free to share this blog post with at least 5 people. Thank you in advance.
-Sincerely, Sheena M.