Fruit

Fruit is produced by heart abundance. Life flows from the heart. It is possible to judge a life based on its actions. We should not be surprised to see wicked things flow from a life. When the condition of men is described in Scripture as “none is righteous”, “no one seeks for God”, and “no one does any good”, is it any wonder that evil flows from every person’s life.

The writers of Scriptures do engage in hyperbole. There are people who do seek for God. There are people who do good. But there is a life of struggle, especially among those who follow Jesus. The Spirit is in their hearts. The power to do good is there, even as the corrupted nature of man to do evil is there. Until perfected with the coming of the Kingdom, we will continue to see a struggle.

We see good in those who do not follow Jesus. They do not have the Spirit, who can power their lives for good. But they do have the image of God. Part of God’s image in us are the “fuels” of the heart. A human being is created with a need (or several needs) that when they are filled powers their living, like gasoline for an automobile. To power our hearts, we need a supply to fulfill these needs.

One of these fuels is love. Human beings not only need to receive love, human beings need to give love. And humans give love to one another largely by doing good. To function as a healthy person, one needs to do good as an expression of love. We need to produce fruit.