When you think of the fruit of the Spirit, which one comes to mind first? For me, it’s love.
Love is the first fruit listed in Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Love is far more than an emotion or a feeling. It is a divine attribute that defines God’s very character. First John 4:8 tells us, “God is love.”
Love can be difficult to define with words, but God demonstrated it in the clearest way possible: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). As His children, He calls us to reflect that same undeserved, sacrificial love to those around us.
The Fruit of Our Heart
Recently, I’ve become fascinated by fruit trees. This is in part because we’ve planted several ourselves, but it’s mostly because Scripture so often uses them as a picture of our spiritual lives. Jesus said that “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44). A tree’s fruit reveals what kind of tree it truly is.
My husband and I serve as missionaries in Europe in a country where the vast majority of people identify as Christian. Yet, despite the religious culture, it is often difficult to find the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus’s words remind us that our profession of faith is not what ultimately identifies us. Our fruit does.
When Jesus spoke these words, many of His listeners were farmers or gardeners. For most of history, people grew their own food, so these illustrations were immediately understood. Luke 6:44 tells us, “For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles.”
The principle is just as true today. We would never expect cherries to grow on an apple tree or blueberries on a banana tree. In the same way, when a life consistently produces hatred, jealousy, selfish ambition, fits of rage or division instead of love, joy, peace, and the other fruit of the Spirit, it reveals the condition of the heart.
The Maturation of Fruit
One aspect of fruit trees has especially captured my attention. They require years of growth before they ever produce fruit. Their roots must deepen. Their trunks strengthen, and their branches mature before fruit appears.
When we bought our home, we planted several fruit trees. We didn’t start from seed. We purchased young trees from a local garden center. Even so, I was surprised to discover they needed three to five years before producing their first harvest. Waiting wasn’t always easy. When those first cherries, plums, and apricots finally appeared, they were worth every season of patience. Their fruit testified that the trees were healthy and thriving.
The Result of Our Fruit
We also have a recreational garden plot, a remnant of the communist era when city residents were given small parcels of land to grow food. One of our neighbors kindly gave us a plum tree to plant there. More than five years have passed, and it still hasn’t produced a single plum.
This spring, I caught myself thinking, “If this tree doesn’t bear fruit this year, maybe it’s time to cut it down and throw it into the fire pit.”
That thought immediately reminded me of Jesus’s sobering words: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19). He concludes, “So then, you will recognize them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:20).
All of this brings us back to the very first fruit of the Spirit: love.
May we be women who are filled with the Spirit of God, who have been so deeply transformed by His love that it naturally overflows into the lives of others. We did nothing to earn His love (Romans 5:8). And what a beautiful love it is!
It is a love from which nothing can separate us—not death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38–39).
May our lives be like healthy fruit trees, firmly rooted in Christ, growing in maturity, and bearing the unmistakable fruit of the Spirit so that a watching world may see Him in us.
