What’s in Your Garden?
Green thumb? I am not! I tend to cause a slow, agonizing death to any living plant in my home. However, there are a few simple gardening principles that even a failed gardener can understand. First, the specific seed you plant will produce the kind of vegetable, fruit, etc. you are planting. In other words, you can’t plant a cucumber seed and hope for an apple tree. Obvious though it may seem, how often have we sown a seed and believed it would create something else? For example, a greed seed was planted, and the belief was that it would make us more generous. Or the concept of work harder than others and then you will reap identity and self-worth. We’ve all at times attempted to defy this principle of reaping what we sow.
Second, do not allow weeds to grow with your plants, thereby, starving your desired plants from much needed nutrients. Some weeds are quite stunning and appear harmless, however, underneath they suck the lifeline from the soil. Likewise, many times we allow counterfeit fruit to grow in the garden of our minds, robbing us of the benefits of the true, authentic fruit from the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23
Read below for a short explanation of the fruit that brings hope, abundance, and contentment along with their potential counterfeits.
Fruit of Love --- Contrary to public opinion, love is not warm, fuzzy feelings that come and go on a whim. Love does well for, sacrifices for, and advocates for another. Love does not initiate based upon emotion, but upon action!
Counterfeit fruit is Lust --- Lust desires and seeks to seize no matter the cost to the other person. Lust is consumed with the basic hunger for another and is never satisfied. However, lust towards one can be fleeting --- coming and going based upon the attraction, emotion, or craving.
Fruit of Joy --- Tony Evans said it best --- “Joy consists of internal stability in spite of external circumstances.” Joy allows the holder to reside with both grief and hope, recognizing both bring growth and purpose. Thankfulness accompanies JOY by reminding us through the valleys of life that there are always reasons to be grateful if we have eyes to see!
Counterfeit fruit is Happiness --- Happiness is seeking for an external object, event, or person to bring gladness. Therefore, it is temporal and is a direct result of circumstances. Never should it be our end goal because it is often out of our hands.
Fruit of Peace --- Again, not dependent upon circumstances; contentment that all is well with our soul even when the world swirls out of control. Liken this to the eye of a storm --- where within the center there is calm, even though the storm violently circles the eye.
Counterfeit fruit is Control --- Control leads to the false belief that circumstances can always be manipulated, designed, and managed to the desired outcome. It’s a futile attempt to be masters of our own ship, forgetting that hurricanes can wreck all kinds of disaster upon the best commandeered ship.
Fruit of Patience --- Waiting… like a farmer who tends to the garden despite no proof of the future harvest to unfold in the coming months. In the waiting, roots grow deep and drink from the nutrients of the soil in order to be able to handle the abundance of fruit to come.
Counterfeit fruit is Slothfulness --- Choosing inaction and blindly believing that no action is needed. In this state, we become numb, apathetic, and resentful of others.
Fruit of Kindness --- Kindness is a state of being that comes from an inward determination to treat others with dignity, worth, and love. As Brene Brown states, “Clear is kind, Unclear is unkind”. A disposition, nurtured by the Creator Himself within; speaking love, compassion, and generosity into our innermost being so we overflow into others.
Counterfeit fruit is Nice --- Being nice, is an attempt to display an outward behavior that will cause acceptable and desired outcome in the actions of others. A method to focus on appeasing others and falsify on the surface that all is well.
Fruit of Goodness --- Goodness is being filled with pure motives toward our actions; choosing to conduct ourselves in a way that benefits others and brings glory to our Creator.
Counterfeit fruit is Self-Righteous --- Promoting self as the standard for moral character; raising self-up to appear superior to others. The focus is self rather than others.
Fruit of Faithfulness --- Remaining committed to a relationship, purpose, or ideology even when circumstances attempt to derail. Think of synonyms like steadfast, loyal, reliable and authentic.
Counterfeit fruit is Co-Dependency ---When we are co-dependent, we heavily rely on another in order to fill an emptiness or need within us. Often, we struggle to know identity separate from the other; the dependence has produced an unhealthy cycle.
Fruit of Gentleness --- The Golden Rule in a nutshell --- Treat others the way we want to be treated! Those with gentleness, have nurtured humbleness of spirit that doesn’t need to be right as much as present with a bowl full of mercy, grace and love.
Counterfeit fruit is People Pleasing --- Their fruit looks pleasing on the surface because it has all the appearance of putting others first. However, it comes at a cost to the self we were created to be. We were, each one, created to stand out with all our uniqueness.
Fruit of Self-Control --- Self-Control is the ability to sacrifice good for better and better for best. Delayed gratification lived out on a regular basis.
Counterfeit fruit is Self-Idolation --- Succumbing to every whim in an attempt to satiate our emotions, desires, and dreams.
Therefore…
Let us be very careful to plant the proper fruits in the garden of our souls!
The authentic fruit of the Spirit are divinely gifted and lead to deep contentment within our soul, a refining of our purpose, and mission to serve others.