The Fruit of the Righteous

I love fruit. Right now in my kitchen I have bananas, pineapple, oranges (mandarin and navel), grapefruit and cantaloupe (we ate all the strawberries). Oh, and canned peaches. My husband loves it when I mix several into a fruit salad or put them into pudding. He’ll even eat some that way that he doesn’t like so much.

Last night we were reading in John 15 about Jesus being the vine and we, the branches, bearing fruit. Verse 5 says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” Then Jesus says, “If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples,” verses 7-8.

Many people think that this is permission to ask for anything they desire, even material or worldly goods. But could it be that Jesus is talking about the Christian traits that make us more Christ like? According to Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.” Jesus even mentions joy and love as fruit in John 15:11,12. Maybe we should ask for more of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

II Peter 1:5-8, instructs us, “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, he says, “…we…do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;…unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness,” Colossians 1:9-11.

It is clear that Jesus is interested in our spiritual growth in our Christian walk. It is only by our abiding in Him that He can produce in us these fruits of the Spirit. If we ask this, according to His will, (and if we abide in Him, we will ask according to His will), it will be done “unto” us.