Matthew 13:23
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
We know that God’s desire for the believer is to bear fruit. How much fruit I am to bear God is not as concerned with as long as I am bearing fruit. You will notice that some bring forth an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. God rejoiced in the fact that fruit was being brought forth. The whole purpose of God’s Word is so that the believer can bear fruit so they can bring forth fruit. Let me share a few thoughts about bearing fruit.
First, every believer is to bear fruit. The fact that God commands us to bear fruit means that He gives us the wherewithal to bear it. How does a believer bear fruit? He bears fruit by receiving the Word of God. God’s Word applied to the believers’ life will always result in the believer bearing fruit. Then, He yields to the Holy Spirit, which results in the believer bearing fruit. Galatians 5:22 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is … You will notice that the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer always results in fruit.
Second, you are to bear fruit to your ability and not to another’s ability. Everyone bore a different amount of fruit, but God did not condemn those who bore less fruit because everyone has a different capacity for bearing fruit. How much fruit you bear is not as much of a concern with God as simply bearing fruit. You must understand that God is the One who determines how much fruit you should bear. Just because you bear more fruit than another does not make you better than them. You are to bear fruit to your capacity and not to another’s capacity.
However, what is the purpose of bearing fruit? The purpose of bearing fruit is so that you can bring forth fruit. You will notice that bearing fruit came before bringing forth fruit, but bringing forth fruit was the result of bearing fruit. In other words, you can only bring forth fruit if you are first bearing fruit. There is no purpose in bearing fruit if you will not bring forth fruit.
Let me explain a bit further. God says in Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. When I yield to the Holy Spirit, this fruit of the Spirit will be evident in my life. The fruit of the Spirit is not for me to hold for myself, but to bring it to others so that I can bring forth fruit. For instance, the fruit of the Spirit gives me love, not to hold for myself, but to bring love to others, not my love, but God’s love, so that they will get saved. The Holy Spirit gives me joy to bring joy to others, and as I bring joy to others, they get saved, and I bring forth fruit. The Holy Spirit enables me to be longsuffering because working with people is not easy; however, the result of being longsuffering with people is that I bring forth fruit.
My friend, we could go through the whole list of the fruit of the Spirit, but the purpose of the fruit of the Spirit is that I bring forth fruit. You will never bear the fruit of the Spirit if you are trying to have this fruit to enjoy yourself. The Holy Spirit helps you to bear His fruit so that you can bring forth fruit. If you want to be a believer that bears fruit, then you must be a believer who yields to the Holy Spirit so He can give you His fruit to bring forth fruit.
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