Full of Fruity Goodness!

Full of Fruity Goodness
By: Jon Mann, Intern and Youth Director (2007-Present)

Writing a devo based on something I’ve learned from Pastor Ben was possibly the most difficult devo that I’ve ever written. This wasn’t because I hadn’t learned anything in my four years as Intern -> Sidekick -> Youth Director. Rather, I’ve learned so much from Ben it was really hard for me to zero in on one particular lesson to write a devotional on. After much thought, I decided to write on one of the most difficult lessons I learned from Ben.

Read Galatians 5:16-26

Now you might be thinking, “Jon didn’t know about the Fruit of the Spirit until he started interning under Pastor Ben?? What are they teaching at that Moody Bible Institute???” I want to assure everyone Moody Bible Institute is a quality institution of learning and in so many ways prepared me for the rigors of full time ministry. But what I learned from Pastor Ben was that the fruit of the Spirit wasn’t something that magically appeared in my life, but it rather it was something I had to actively pursue and remind myself to produce. Paul gives this incredible list of the “works of the flesh” and let me tell you, it is a daily struggle not to produce that in my life. Yes, I am saved by the grace of God through faith and freed the chains of sin, but every day I seem to be fighting the urge to give in and just produce the works of the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the flesh can’t come from the same tree. So Ben was reminding me that every day I had to decide what kind of harvest I wanted to produce. But deciding to produce fruit in my life daily is not enough. It’s called the Fruit of the Spirit because it’s the Holy Spirit that does the growing and producing in us. Our decision is whether we want to be yielded so that the fruit has good soil to grow in.

Another thing that Ben constantly reminded me of was that Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit, not fruits plural, but the singular fruit. That means you’re not producing fruit if you you’re not producing all the things Paul lists there. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Sure on any given day, I might be producing one of those. But producing the singular fruit of the Spirit means having all of these things present in my life. I remember one particular day that Ben came in to my office after a particularly rough weekend. I was upset and frustrated by circumstance and the difficulties of ministry. Ben walked in and handed me a sheet of paper. On it was printed part of this passage with Galatians 5:22-23 bolded. Ben just simply reminded me, “Jon, ministry will not be easy and dealing with difficult people and situations will test us. But we are called to produce the Fruit of the Spirit.” And then he made me tape that sheet of paper to my wall as a daily reminder to let the Holy Spirit be producing the right fruit in me. Not just the easy ones (for me) like joy and faithfulness. But the ones that didn’t always come naturally for me, like patience, gentleness, and self-control.

Take sometime to reflect on the fruit of the Spirit. Is it evident in your life? Are all these characteristics evident or just some? Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit so you can be producing this fruit daily. And if necessary, maybe print them out and stick it on your wall as a reminder.