Living a "Fruitful" Life

I read a blog post the other day that really spoke to me so I wanted to share. It was short and sweet but a great reminder.

Here's the link...
http://www.equipandempower.org/blog/index.php/2011/12/14/known_by_fruit?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChristineCaine+%28Christine+Caine+%28blog%29%29

To sum it up though, what is important to God is that we produce "fruit" and what's key is us knowing what "fruit" is. It's not our accomplishments or our talents or our gifts...it's the 9 fruits of the spirit...

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self control.

I don't know about you but I think I get this wrong sometimes. I start thinking that my "works" are my fruit. What am I doing in ministry right now? How do I get more involved to touch more lives? Why am I not seeing results like other people?

That's not it at all. Am I producing those 9 things listed above in my life? And am I producing ALL of them..even the hard ones like patience (road rage comes to mind) and self control (over-indulgence in food seems familiar lately)? The beautiful thing is (and possibly frustrating at the same time), is that I can't TRY to produce this. The Holy Spirit produces this in me as I draw closer to Jesus. If I'm not producing these fruits, I reach out to Jesus more. I ask for more of Him in me. I don't try to put the pressure on myself to go and produce this fruit. It's not about works at all. It's not about me.

So this season as I find myself yelling at other drivers on the road and worrying about if I got someone the right gift, I'm subsequently getting closer to Jesus. I'm finding more time to spend in His word and talking to Him. Because I want to produce this fruit. I know this is what really matters. And I know I can't do it in my own strength.

And if I don't get the chance to blog again before Sunday, Merry Christmas friends!!