God has been teaching me a lot from Galatians over the last couple of weeks, and I wanted to share some insights with you. Specifically, I have been reflecting on Galatians 5:22-23, which says:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
As I was reading these verses, the LORD led me to focus on just the first four words: “THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.”
He highlighted this to me: “Fruit is cultivated in seeded seasons.”
Every good fruit comes from a good seed. You can’t produce the fruit of the Spirit without the planted seed of God’s word. Many people desire fruitfulness but don’t want the planting and growing seasons of the seed. They want good fruit but do not have a desire to abide in the LORD. They desire the highest quality but are unwilling to pay the costly price it takes to obtain it.
The reality is: in order for any seed to grow fruit, it has to go through seeded seasons where it is buried, watered, stretched, heated, crushed, and pruned. The same process happens to us believers as the fruit of the Spirit is being cultivated in us.
When we consume God’s word, we are burying the seed of His word in our hearts and waiting for Him as He cultivates the fruit of His Spirit. Often, cultivating spiritual fruit requires tearing away fleshly weeds. This means we have to give up sins that are detrimental to our spiritual growth. We have to go through those painful and weary growing seasons, but with this understanding: God is working everything for our good!
I love what Philippians 1:6 says: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
You can’t have joy if all you do is complain. You can’t cultivate peace if you are constantly in turmoil. We have to be steadfast and know that in the midst of seeded seasons, God is working for our good in growing, pruning, and tending to what He has placed in us.
Fruitfulness is the result of seeded seasons, and seeded seasons come from abiding in the Word and the Word abiding in us.
In this instant gratification culture we are in, it’s easy to forget that true growth takes time and effort. But remember, fruitfulness is the result of those seeded seasons. Let us embrace them, knowing that God is at work, cultivating His Spirit within us.