I have written this month about God planting his word in us and how it grows.
There is much we can learn from how God’s word bears fruit in us.
Jesus speaks directly to how the seed grows in John 12:24, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
If it remains just a seed, then that is all that it will be – one solitary seed. But if that seed is planted and finds a way into the soil then it grows, bears fruit, has a crop and it becomes seed to be sown in even more places!
When fruit is produced, that fruit is not for the plant that bore it, but it becomes a way to start other plants.
Fruit contains seed that will be planted for other plants to grow. A seed in and of itself is just one seed. No more, no less.
It is when the seed is buried in the soil that something happens.
It is no longer just a seed at that point, but has the potential to bear fruit that will edify, build up, and encourage others. Now I am talking about more than just the fruit of apples and oranges, but the fruit of the Spirit inside of us as believers.
Our lives are not for ourselves, but to share God’s seed with one another. Just like the fruit, we see our greatest potential in what we can do for one another, not ourselves.
When our wills and desires are buried and we lay them aside for the sake of others, something happens in us too and fruit is born in us.
The fruit God’s seed bears in us is the fruit of the spirit as our lives becomes more Christlike. Galatians 5:22-23 lifts up nine such fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The greatest gift we have to give is to share Christ with our world! And so we forsake all else to have that opportunity.
It is in that laying aside of ourselves for one another that fruit is born. These fruits come not from serving ourselves, but one another.
I pray that this summer is a fruitful time as we give ourselves more and more to the Holy Spirit and pour ourselves out for one another – this bears fruit that will last eternally!
Ian Conerly, New Oregon United Methodist Church