For years one of my “pet peeves” theologically has been how much I hear kids being taught to “work on the Fruit of the Spirit.” There are countless kids church series that go through each fruit helping kids to work on them, one by one. I’ve even seen sermons to adults admonishing Christians to work on being more kind or gentle or self-controlled. But there is a serious flaw in this approach! Fruit produced by our effort, isn’t Fruit of the Spirit – it is fruit of the flesh, even if the end result is good. Stick with me for a moment before you start yelling at me! I know the Bible says to produce good fruit – we should! But too often our approach is backwards. In our church’s scripture reading plan, I find my self in the book of Matthew, and was struck with this truth again as I read the following passages: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good… Continue reading