Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

John 15:4 - Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Abide in me. What an incredibly powerful statement. God does not tell us to merely learn about Him, in order to grow in our faith. He instead tells us to abide, to “remain” in Him, and we will bear much fruit. 

The greatest tragedy is that some will leave the road to heaven, not because they distrust Jesus, or because they are drawn to the ways of the world, but simply because they’re exhausted. Tired of taking two steps forward and one step back. Tired watering a tree that doesn’t seem to be growing. Maybe you’ve been watering so much that it feels like you're drowning in impossible expectations. Delusions have rushed in, saying you haven’t gotten anywhere. Maybe you’ve asked the question, even today, “how did I get here?” 

Have you been so focused on your own will power, that you’ve lost sight of the will of God? Have you fallen so deep that you forgot the deep richness of God’s grace? When did you start thinking your growth was more important than the grace from the gardener? Have you forgotten to abide in Christ?

Maybe, just maybe, we are to stop watering on our own and instead abide in the life giving streams of God. Stop longing for instant gratification, instead of the patient endurance of faith in which we were first called, that leads to abundant fruit. There will never be a day in which we don’t need the grace and healing power of our Savior and the abiding of the Spirit. The well of Christ never runs out, because we’ll never run out of our need for it. 

The farmer who plants a seed in the morning, doesn’t expect to pick fruit in the evening, but neither does he cease from watering and mending. The farmer patiently endures, having faith that growth will come, doing everything he can, yet constantly reminded that the rain and the sun will accomplish more than he could ever. He remains faithful and allows the sun to do the rest. Likewise, we are to remain in Christ, and let the Spirit do the work. 

It’s the “fruit of the Spirit” not the “fruit of the Christian.” 

Religion can not give you fruit, only a relationship with Jesus can. Attempting on your own will result in utter failure, or even more dangerous than failure: a perception of success that leaves you further from God and closer to pride than you can ever imagine. Abide in God, and He in you, and fruit will be produced. You cannot of yourself live the Christian life, it has to be the Holy Spirit in you. There is a difference between merely looking like a Christian and bearing the fruit of Spirit–who raised Christ from the dead. When you receive Jesus Christ, HE produces the fruit. Not you. For they are the very characteristics of Christ himself. If your body is truly a temple of the Holy Spirit, your life will look like a beautiful garden of His fruit.