The Spirit Looks Like Something
A friend of mine has a large, bountiful white peach tree in her yard. For the last two years she has invited my family over to harvest peaches. Truth is, without the hefty, juicy fruits hanging from the branches, I would never have known what type of tree was growing outside her kitchen window. My guess is that if we lined up an apple, orange and lemon tree, most of us wouldn't be able to distinguish one from the other - until we looked at the fruit. A tree is most easily identified by the fruit it produces.
Scripture tells us in the very beginning that God created the world to work in a specific way. He created vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees that grow seed bearing fruit. In Genesis 1:11, we are reminded that the seeds will produce the same plants that they came from. Apple trees will produce apples, equipped with seeds that, when tended to, can produce more apple trees. It is a brilliant cycle.
The same is true for us believers. Our lives will reproduce whatever is on the inside of us. If we are people filled with the Spirit of God, we should produce something specific. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians (chapter 5, verses 22-23) that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Read each of those again, slowly this time. When we plant our life in Christ, these become our fruits - our offering to the world. We become distinguishable in a world offering anxiety, greed, self-seeking, pain and pride.
Even Jesus reminded His disciples that the world would know they were His by the way that they love. The spirit filled woman should look like something. It would do us good to examine our hearts, and check our attitudes. Asking ourselves, what fruit am I producing? As we do this, let us remain faithfully planted in the House of God, being watered by His word, allowing God to tend, pluck and prune, so that we can be women marked by God, bearing with honor, the fruit of His Holy Spirit.
By Pastor Jenn Guirand