Bearing Fruit

In this message from the Marks of Discipleship series, we turn to Galatians 5 and the familiar passage describing the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The central question is simple but searching: What does it truly mean for a disciple of Jesus to bear fruit?

Freedom Is Not License

The Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians about freedom — freedom from the law, freedom from striving to earn righteousness, freedom from the bondage of sin. Christ has set them free. But Paul immediately offers a warning: do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge the flesh.

Grace is not a license to sin. Forgiveness is not permission for self-indulgence. The freedom found in Christ is not about doing whatever we want — it is about becoming who we were created to be.

Paul contrasts two realities: the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The works of the flesh — jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, impurity, discord, drunkenness, and more — are self-centered and destructive. They turn us inward. They diminish our humanity. They fracture relationships and ultimately dehumanize both ourselves and others.

In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit restores humanity. These qualities — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — are outward-facing. They benefit others. They bring life. They reflect the character of Christ.

This contrast reveals something crucial: spiritual maturity is not measured by religious activity but by the fruit that appears in our lives.

The Myth of Self-Formation

One of the central themes of this sermon is the difference between forming ourselves and being formed by God.

In Western culture, we are deeply conditioned to believe that we can shape ourselves through effort. We are told that hard work, discipline, and determination can accomplish anything. Apply that mindset to spiritual growth, and we might assume that if we just try harder — attend more services, pray longer, fast more consistently, read more Scripture — we can manufacture spiritual fruit.

But spiritual formation is not self-improvement.

As Robert Mulholland writes, spiritual formation is not a process of forming ourselves in the image of Christ; it is being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others. That distinction is vital. If we could transform ourselves, what need would we have for Christ? If we could manufacture joy, produce patience, or will ourselves into gentleness, then the cross becomes unnecessary.

The truth is sobering and freeing at the same time: we cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit. We can only produce the works of the flesh.

The fruit belongs to the Spirit.

Spiritual formation is the jurisdiction of God. It is His domain, not ours. The Spirit of God alone can cultivate Christlike character within us.

So What Is Our Role?

If we cannot form ourselves, then what are we called to do?

The answer is cooperation.

God, in His wisdom, has chosen to partner with His people in the work of transformation. He does not need us in terms of ability, but He has chosen to involve us in His redemptive purposes. Our role is not to manufacture fruit but to cooperate with the Spirit’s work.

This cooperation happens through the spiritual disciplines — worship, prayer, fasting, solitude, Sabbath, generosity, and other practices that interrupt the normal rhythms of life.

These disciplines do not change us by themselves. The act of fasting does not produce holiness. The habit of prayer does not automatically create gentleness. Worship attendance alone does not produce joy.

What these practices do is create space.

They remove us from the noise, pace, and distractions of everyday life so that we can encounter God. They tune our hearts to the voice of the Spirit. They reposition us from self-sufficiency to dependence.

The spiritual disciplines are not about earning transformation — they are about placing ourselves where transformation can occur.

Encounter Changes Us

Transformation happens in encounter.

When we step out of the ordinary rhythms of life and into the presence of God, something shifts. Just as it is difficult to hear someone speaking from another room until we move closer, it is difficult to hear the Spirit amid the chaos of daily life. The disciplines move us into the room where God is speaking.

The Sabbath is not merely a break from work; it is a deliberate withdrawal from the world’s pace into God’s presence. Worship is not simply singing songs; it is positioning ourselves to meet the living God. Prayer is not reciting words; it is communion. Fasting is not deprivation for its own sake; it is hunger redirected toward God.

In those encounters, the Spirit does His work.

And when He does, fruit begins to grow.

Fruit Is Evidence

Jesus tells His followers that a tree is known by its fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. The visible evidence of what is happening internally is what appears externally.

The fruit of the Spirit becomes the natural outflow of a life rooted in Christ.

It cannot be forced. It cannot be staged. It cannot be faked indefinitely.

When someone has encountered God, there is a noticeable difference. Others often see it before we do. There is a shift in tone, a steadiness of spirit, a gentleness in response, a patience that was not previously present. The fruit testifies to the root.

This fruit is not for personal display. It is for the sake of others. Love blesses others. Joy strengthens others. Peace calms others. Patience protects others. Kindness heals others. Goodness upholds others. Faithfulness anchors others. Gentleness restores others. Self-control guards others.

The fruit is relational.

The Spirit Is Speaking

A final image offered in the sermon is this: the Holy Spirit is always speaking. The problem is not His silence but our inability to hear. We are tuned to other frequencies — noise, ambition, distraction, fear. The disciplines retune us.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is stop.

Stop striving. Stop rushing. Stop managing outcomes. Stop trying to manufacture transformation.

Make space.

Listen.

Cooperate.

And trust that the Spirit is at work.

The Mark of a Disciple

A disciple bears fruit — not because they are impressive, disciplined, or spiritually elite — but because they are connected to the vine. As Jesus says in John 15, apart from Him we can do nothing. When we abide in Him, fruit becomes inevitable.

The mark of discipleship is not performance but transformation.

It is not self-formation but Spirit-formation.

It is not trying harder but cooperating more fully.

And when we do, our lives begin to reflect the character of Christ in ways that bless the world around us.

May we have the grace to cooperate with the Spirit’s work — and may our lives bear much fruit.