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all about trying to<br />
be a good person.”<br />
Over the years many<br />
different people have<br />
“It’s<br />
said this or something<br />
similar to me when we’ve been<br />
talking about what it means to<br />
be a Christian. But this idea is<br />
radically different to the Bible’s<br />
idea of what it means to be a<br />
Christian, and why a<br />
Christian might seek<br />
to be “good”.<br />
In St Paul’s letter<br />
to the Galatians,<br />
Paul talks about the<br />
“fruit of the Spirit”.<br />
He says, “The fruit of<br />
the Spirit is love, joy,<br />
peace, forbearance,<br />
kindness, goodness,<br />
faithfulness, gentleness and<br />
self-control.” Paul describes<br />
these virtues not as things that<br />
are to be achieved in order to<br />
be considered a Christian, but<br />
rather as “fruit of the Spirit”. It is a<br />
fascinating metaphor. Christians<br />
believe that the Holy Spirit is<br />
God dwelling in all Christians,<br />
shaping and changing them to<br />
be more like Jesus. Displaying<br />
the virtues that St Paul lists is not<br />
a prerequisite to believing, but<br />
should be a result of believing in<br />
Jesus, just as fruit trees naturally<br />
produce fruit.<br />
This is not to claim that people<br />
who aren’t Christians don’t<br />
sometimes display these virtues;<br />
clearly many people who wouldn’t<br />
call themselves Christians can<br />
demonstrate these virtues, often<br />
more than some of us Christians<br />
do!<br />
But for a Christian, these virtues<br />
should flow out of a transformed<br />
life. In our back garden, we have<br />
a couple of small apple trees.<br />
They haven’t been in long, and<br />
do not yet bear much fruit. But we<br />
trust that as the years go on, they<br />
will continue to grow and will give<br />
an ever increasing crop of apples.<br />
As apple trees naturally produce<br />
apples, so the Christian should<br />
naturally produce the fruit of the<br />
Spirit.<br />
For a Christian, a fruitful life<br />
is measured not<br />
by success, or<br />
respect, or wealth.<br />
It is measured by<br />
how much we are<br />
being transformed<br />
to be more like<br />
Jesus, the one who<br />
demonstrated all<br />
of these virtues in<br />
the ultimate and<br />
complete way.<br />
To be a Christian is not to be<br />
good enough for God, it is to<br />
be forgiven by God and to be<br />
changed by him to display the fruit<br />
of the Spirit.<br />
Rev Duncan Bell<br />
‘The fruit of the<br />
Spirit is love, joy,<br />
peace, forbearance,<br />
kindness,<br />
goodness,<br />
faithfulness,<br />
gentleness and<br />
self-control’<br />
Being Fruitful<br />
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats<br />
Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA<br />
Tel: (0114) 274 5<strong>08</strong>6<br />
Page 13<br />
email: office@stchads.org<br />
website: www.stchads.org
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