The Nature of the Fruit Part 1 "What Keeps Us From Fruitfulness?"

LBS

The Nature of the Fruit

Part 1

What Keeps Us From Fruitfulness

God’s purpose for us is: Fruitfulness

     From the beginning of time, God’s purpose and plan for humanity has been to be fruitful and multiply (Gen.1:28). Just like we want our garden to produce fruit (fruits, vegetables, foliage, or flowers), God desires that his garden produces fruit--fruit that is the result of our growth in these character qualities: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God has given us the Holy Ghost to make this happen. God is the master gardener for our growth; he is not finished with us. He loves us as we are but He’s intent on growing us into the people He desires us to be--people of character, people like Jesus. 

1. What character-building fruit have you experienced in your life lately? ____________

Read Psalm 92:12-14 below. Write down or discuss together what they mean to you. What can be applied from the text.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.

What makes a person lazy or turn to drugs? Common sense and logic tell us these behaviors only lead to dark and fruitless lives. But people get swept into the life anyway. And there are many complex reasons that all culminate in one thing-humanity’s sinful nature. 

The Bible tells us we were created for something better--God’s eternal love. When we turn to God and put our trust in him, we are planted to grow and be fruitful. But in our sinful nature, there are things that can thwart, and destroy fruitfulness in our lives. These things are referred to as things of the _____________.

Flesh is defined as that sinful, selfish part of us that seeks a life part form God for ourselves, independent of faith.

Read Galatians 5:16-21 aloud 

1. In order to face the sinful nature (flesh). We must know what the sinful nature is. How does verse 17 describe the sinful nature? 

__________________________________________________________________.

1. To what does the “sinful nature,” or “flesh” refer?

___________________________________________________________________.

1. How does verse 17 explain our need for a life that is controlled by the Spirit.

___________________________________________________________________.

Gal. 5:24-6:10 Is there something we must do to keep the sinful nature from enveloping our lives?

___________________________________________________________________.

   In our perpetual fight against home and garden pests, we must face the fact that we’ll never eliminate them all permanently. We’ve got to keep up the fight. It’s a continual battle but we can, through vigilance and ongoing action, limit their impact. The same is true for facing and fighting our flesh. On this side of heaven, our lives will never be flesh-free, but by fighting through faith in Christ and the gospel, we can limit and neutralize the impact of our flesh in our lives so that we can still be fruitful. It’s not easy, to be sure, but it’s so worth it.