Bearing Fruit

I enjoy gardening as a hobby. I admit I am not the greatest gardener, but I love spending time in my garden. I love watching things grow. I love eating the fruit of my garden. The only problem is, I don’t get much fruit because I am not a good gardener.

I have a few friends who also like to garden, and they are much better than I am. They are my garden mentors who advise me and correct me. One day, with their help I hope to enjoy more than ‘just a few’ tomatoes and more than ‘just one’ carrot.

The spiritual life is just like gardening. Most of us like to spend time in our spiritual garden, but it is must a hobby, and we don’t often bear fruit. In the garden I must admit I need help from my mentor. In my spiritual life I also can’t bear fruit without help.

Brethren, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.  Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.  Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 5:22-26; 6:1-2

Consider the fruit of the Spirit as more than just abstract goals. As Christians the fruit of the spirit is our life. If I was forced to survive off my garden, I would die unless I drastically improved my skills. Nothing is truer in our spiritual life.

I meet many people who act as if they have perfected being a Christian, but there is no fruit to their labor. They lack peace, they are cruel to others, they have no joy in their hearts. They may have perfected self-control in the gym, but they are totally without it in human interactions.

My point today is simple. Just because you call yourself a Christian doesn’t mean you are living like a Christian. Saint Paul reminds us that if we do not bear the fruit of the Spirit, we are not living by the Spirit.

We must fight the temptation that we have ever perfected being a Christian. Until we have harvested ALL the fruit of the Spirit, we still have work to do. And we only have this life to in which to do it. This is why Saint Paul said, “Look to yourself.”

We must admit where we fall short. Then, we must ask for help. Saint Paul also said, “Bear one another burdens.” I cannot improve my gardening skills without the help of my garden mentors. We cannot improve our spiritual skills without the help of our spiritual father and the Church.

I invite you to spend the day looking at yourself. Be honest with yourself. Do you see any fruit? Thank God for the fruit you have. Then take note of what is lacking. Make an appointment with your spiritual father and start a plan to improve your skills.

I am a better gardener today than I was ten years ago. Learning how to bear fruit takes time and patience. It requires time and effort. More than anything it requires the desire to bear fruit in the first place. Don’t make being a Christian a hobby. Make it a living.