Fruit grows in its season, but not by force
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
I was reminded last week about the fruits of the Spirit (mostly those in which I am lacking, to be honest), and it got me to thinking about the way that fruit grows.
The thing about fruit is that it just... grows. The plant just soaks up the sun, water, and nutrients in the soil, and the fruit grows in the right season.
You cannot force yourself to become gentle, or grit your teeth and make yourself be kind. If you've ever heard teaching like this, it's a gross misrepresentation of the way that fruit grows, and of the message that the analogy is intended to convey.
In John 15:4, Jesus says "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." This shows Jesus as the source of nourishment, because a plant that isn't being fed can't grow fruit. When we're struggling to show the fruit of the Spirit, pushing or forcing or shaming doesn't help; we obtain nourishment through drawing near to the Lord, reading the Word, praying and worshipping.
Which makes sense. The fruit of the Spirit are qualities of God's own character, which we see demonstrated throughout scripture, and the more time we spend with Him, the more like Him we become.
If you're feeling ground down, worn out, fractious, frustrated, give yourself some grace, because everything is a lot right now, but also give yourself some time to go visit with the Lord. God loves you and wants you to draw near to Him.
I try to show this in my novels - people walking out their faith through the challenges that they face, drawing near to God, praying with and for one another. If this sounds like the sort of thing you might enjoy, book one in the Cedar River series, 'The Shortcut', is only 99c with coupon code SHORTCUT99 ! Check it out and read a sample here: https://honeystonebooks.com/products/the-shortcut-cedar-river-book-one-ebook