"But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8)
If I could have but one fruit of the Spirit, I would take... Hmm, just one problem with that, our Lord is a giver beyond any we have known. Love does not come without faith; hope does not arrive without patience; peace steps in the door with godliness. The fruit of the Spirit grows in big bunches of mixed clusters. Peter gives us a plan for our efforts, but there is only one true vine. At our best, we are but fruit tenders helping the Lord to grow and prune the fruit growing by His Spirit within us. Without the seeds planted in our soil by the Holy Spirit, we would not grow anything. Without the sap of Jesus our vine, we would have nothing with which to grow and stand. Not that our efforts are wasted, far be that from our glorious service in Christ!
Adam's job at the start was the tending of Paradise. We may be far from such a nice place as Eden was before sin came, but we too have tending in our job description. Peter's plan is not separate from the Spirit of Christ. When we turned to our Shepherd in that first belief, a cornucopia of spiritual fruit began to grow in us. The main work is done by our Lord, but we have the privilege as Adam did to help with the tending of this brave new garden. "But, but, how do I add godliness to perseverance?" any one of us might ask on this cloudy morning. Praise God all of us gardener sheep have a Shepherd who is the Master Gardener as well. The answer to so many questions in our Christian walk is found in Christ Jesus and in His Word.
Have a wonderful day and a great weekend!
Bucky
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