“What is the key to bearing fruit as a Christian?”……In the natural world, fruit is the result of a healthy plant producing what it was designed to produce (Genesis 1:11-12).

In the Bible, the wordfruitis often used to describe a person's outward actions that result from the condition of the heart.……Good fruit is that which is produced by the Holy Spirit.Galatians 5:22gives us a starting place: the fruit of the spiritis love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The more we allow the Holy Spirit free rein in our lives, the more this fruit is evident (Galatians 5:16,25).

Jesus told His followers,

John 15:16

"I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last".

Righteous fruit has eternal benefit.…Jesus told us clearly what we must do to bear good fruit. He said,

John 15:4-5

"4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

A branch must stay firmly attached to the trunk to stay alive.

As Disciples of Christ, we must stay firmly connected to Him to remain spiritually productive.

A branch draws strength, nourishment, protection, and energy from the vine.

If it is broken off, it quickly dies and becomes unfruitful.

When we neglect our spiritual life, ignore the Word of God, skimp on prayer, and withhold areas of our lives from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, we are like a branch broken off the vine.

Our lives become fruitless. We need daily surrender, daily communication, and daily-sometimes hourly-repentance and connection with the Holy Spirit in order to "walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Staying intimately connected to theTrue Vineis the only way tobear fruit even in old age…Psalm 92:14

14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.

to "run and not grow weary"…Isaiah 40:31

31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles.They will run and not grow weary.…not "grow weary in well-doing"…Galatians 6:9…9 So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.…One counterfeit to bearing good fruit is pretense.

We can become experts at the routines, the lingo or buzz words clich├®s, and "acting Christian," while experiencing no real power and bearing no eternal fruit.

Our hearts remain self-centered, angry, and joyless even while we go through the motions of serving God. We can easily slip into the role of the Pharisees in judging ourselves by how we think we appear to others and neglecting that secret place of the heart where all good fruit germinates.

When we love, desire, pursue, and fear the same things that the rest of the world does, we are not abiding in Christ, even though our lives may be filled with church-related activity.

And, often, we don't realize that we are living fruitless lives

1 John 2:15-17…15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.…Our works will be tested by fire. Using a different metaphor than fruit,

1 Corinthians 3:11-14

says, "11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have-Jesus Christ.

12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials-gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.."……God is the judge of even our thoughts and motivations.

All will be brought to the light when we stand before Him

Hebrews 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

A poor widow in a one-room apartment can bear as much fruit as a televangelist leading giant crusades if she is surrendered to God in everything and using all He has given her for His glory.

As fruit is unique to each tree, our fruit is unique to us.

God knows what He has entrusted to each of us and what He expects us to do with it (Luke 12:48).

Our responsibility before God is to be "faithful with little" so that He can trust us with much

Matthew 25:21

21 "The master was full of praise. ÔÇÿWell done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together![a]'

…

“What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit?”……Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a Christian.

The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment he or she believes in Jesus Christ

Romans 8:9…9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)…1 Corinthians 12:13…13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[a] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[]

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own[a] by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit coming into a Christian’s life is to change that life.

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to conform us to the image of Christ, making us more like Him.……The fruit of the Holy Spirit is in direct contrast with the acts of the sinful nature inGalatians 5:19-21

"19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God."

This passage describes all people, to varying degrees, when they do not know Christ and therefore are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Our sinful flesh produces certain types of fruit that reflect our nature, and the Holy Spirit produces types of fruit that reflect His nature.……The Christian life is a battle of the sinful flesh against the new nature given by Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17…17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

As fallen human beings, we are still trapped in a body that desires sinful things…Romans 7:14-25…Struggling with Sin

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can't. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life-that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit producing His fruit in us and we have the Holy Spirit’s power available to conquer the acts of the sinful nature …Philippians 4:13…3 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength.…A Christian will never be completely victorious in always demonstrating the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

It is one of the main purposes of the Christian life, though, to progressively allow the Holy Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives-and to allow the Holy Spirit to conquer the opposing sinful desires.

The fruit of the Spirit is what God desires our lives to exhibit and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, it is possible!

…What kind of life do you want? Jesus makes a promise to us in

John 10:10: "I come that they have life and have it to the full."

We can claim that promise by living life in the Spirit.

Life is a battle between our sinful nature and our spiritual nature. …Paul teaches us a great lesson in

Galatians 6:7,8"People harvest only what they plant. If they plant to satisfy their sinful selves, their sinful selves will bring them ruin. …But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will receive eternal life from the Spirit."

Think of yourself as a farmer and your life as a crop. …What do you want to grow in your life?

If we sow seeds of selfish desires, we grow a crop that reflects that.

Listen to Paul describe that difference between the two kinds of lifestyles in Galatians 5: "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. …Anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

What kind of crops do you want to harvest in your life? Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and help you to sow according to His way. He wants to bless your life and produce good fruit. You just need to trust and obey Him.