Walking With Christ

1 Peter 4:10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace(ESV)

1 Corinthians 12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.(ESV)

Matthew 5:15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.(ESV)

Mark 4:21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?(ESV)

Matthew 7:16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?(ESV)

Colossians 1:10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God(ESV)

There is a concept that has been nagging at me for a while. Apple trees do not produce pears, figs, walnuts, or watermelon. They only produce apples.

Who benefits from the apple? Certainly not the apple tree. In a real-world sense, the apple is simply a sign that the apple tree has received enough nutrients to be able to produce fruit. The production of the fruit often means that the soil where the tree is planted is rich enough to support the expansion of the apple tree family through propagation. Each fruit contains at least one seed that is intended to begin a new generation of apple tree.

Switching to the spiritual sense, the gifts of the spirit are like fertilizer for the soul to produce bigger and better fruit. The spiritual production of fruit, like the apple tree, is merely a sign that the plant, in this case us, has been gifted with enough nutrients to be able to produce said fruit. The quality of the fruit is a consequence of the volume of nutrients we have been gifted with. Nevertheless, the fruit still contains seeds meant to be planted in fertile soil so that a new generation will grow.

The gifts of the spirit are meant to help us produce more and better fruit. The fruit was never meant for us. It was always meant to be shared with others. Fruit that isn’t shared goes to waste. We can have all of the gifts of the spirit, but if we aren’t sharing the fruit it produces then it was all for nothing.

Something else to keep in mind: every word and action is a seed that is entirely based on what has fertilized the soil of our hearts.

Luke 6:45b for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks(ESV)

Stop hoarding fruit.