Canning the Spirit

Our last garden produced dozens and dozens of tomatoes. Plump, sweet, and juicy, we decided to can all those homegrown, fresh, delicious virtues and savor them in the cold winter months. By the time we finished the canning process we had over twenty jars of tomatoes lining a shelf in our kitchen. They became decor. We would look at those bright red fruits in sparkling glass jars, and think of how blessed our garden was.

Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.

What I think many of us miss in this beautiful metaphor is that fruit is meant to be eaten. It's purpose is to entice, delight, and satisfy. God does not fill us with blessings and fruits so that we can put such virtue on the shelf, useless to all. We are meant to grow in the light, bear beautiful fruit, and draw in the needy, the hungry, to feast in the bounty He provides.

God does not give us faithfulness to bottle and place out of reach. We bear faithfulness so the timid, the doubting, and the troubled can taste of honest trust in the King and be satisfied. God does not pour out peace in our life to sparkle aloof in the eyes of men. We have the fruit of peace, so our fellow believers in this tumultuous life can eat and be filled.

There is no winter with God. If we give fruit of the spirit to the hungry, an abundance more will spring up in its place. When we can the fruit of the spirit, seal it away for our own cold days, they will surely come icier than we imagined. If we let the hungry come to us (really to Him, who gives us the fullness of everything), we will never be in need before the God who is all sufficient. He is enough. So we are enough. Enough for others.

Has your joy been pickling on the shelf until it tastes of sour indifference? Has your gentleness fermented into passivity and indulgence? How can you offer ripe fruit of love and kindness to those starving for grace? You need save none for yourself. The great Gardener always provides.