Peri: Be FRUITful!

FRUIT- peri, masculine noun (Strong’s 6529); FRUITFUL- parah, verb (Strong’s 6509)

Root: פְרִי

Sounds like: p’ree

Both of my kids are heading off to University next weekend and I find myself constantly reminding them to “be kind and eat their fruits and veggies” once they leave the house. In essence I’m telling them to consume the healthy fruit (produce) of God’s good word, and produce goodness in their own lives… sharing the abundance of God’s love to others. That’s what Biblical fruit-fulness is all about. 

One thing that might help you remember the Hebrew word for fruit (p’ri/parah) is how close it resembles one of our own favourite fruits… the pear. I fondly remember an old Bartlett pear tree we had at my childhood home, in Tiverton, Ontario, Canada. In early fall the tree would be weighed down with an abundance of fruit. There was a small window of opportunity to get all the pears off the tree before an army of wasps would devour the overripe delights of a pear in its last days. To this day, one bite of a bartlett pear takes me back to my childhood!

Fruit: In the Beginning

My childhood was a long time ago, but for now let’s go further back in time. The Creation story is full of fruit.

Genesis 1:9-13

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the waters He called “seas”; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees [ets p’ri] on the earth bearing fruit [p’ri] according to their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit [p’ri] with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

God produced fruit in order for us to eat… and eat well. But we were also called to be fruitful, ourselves. When God created the sea creatures and birds, He blessed them and told them to “Be fruitful [p’ru] and multiply” (Genesis 1:22); and when God created humans, He blessed  them and told them to “Be fruitful [p’ru] and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). In order to be fruitful we would have to consume the produce (fruit) YHWH had given us:

Genesis 1:29-30

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit [p’ri] yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 

The Biblical poets often looked back at Creation and the fruitful deeds of YHWH:

Psalm 104:13-15

He [YHWH] waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit [mi-p’ri] of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labour of mankind, so that they may produce food from the earth, and wine, which makes a human heart cheerful, so that he makes his face gleam with oil, and food, which sustains a human heart.

But in the story of Creation there was one tree that did not yield edible fruit for human consumption. YHWH warned Eve and Adam that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a death trap. Eat from that tree and they would taste death. That might have been all that needed saying, had there not been an Adversary in the Garden:

Genesis 3:1-7

Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which YHWH God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit [mi-p’ri] of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree  [u-mi-p’ri ha-ets] which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit [mi-pir’yow] and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

Not all fruit is good fruit for human consumption. Some of it is poisonous. Some of it will kill us. The fruit from the centre of the Garden had fatal consequences. It opened their eyes to death and they could not take back what they saw. They were corrupted by the vision and they could not stay in the Garden, knowing what they knew, exposed to what they had seen.

Death had crept into the doorway of their minds and they couldn’t stay. And so Eve and Adam were sent out into the wilderness, but God would not abandon them.

Fruit of the Womb

Outside of the Garden of Eden, humans would find a way to grow and flourish, with the help of YHWH. Although they were no longer in God’s Garden Kingdom, they would be fruitful and have children where they were:

Psalm 127:3

Behold, children are a gift of YHWH, the fruit of the womb [p’ri ha-baten] is a reward.

YHWH would create a relationship covenant with His people. He would help them flourish and be fruitful in all aspects of their lives:

Deuteronomy 7:12-14a (see also Deuteronomy 28:1-6, 53; Deuteronomy 30:9-10)

“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that YHWH your God will keep His covenant with you and His faithfulness which He swore to your forefathers. And He will love you, bless you, and make you numerous; He will also bless the fruit of your womb [p’ri vit’n’ka] and the fruit of your ground [u-p’ri ad’mateka], your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the newborn of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples.”

God would bless people with fruitful wombs, fruitful fields, fruitful wine, and fruitful livestock. He would send them into a bountiful land, filled with fruit.

The Fruitful Promised Land

After years of wandering, Moses sent spies into God’s promised land, and told them to “get some of the fruit [mi-p’ri ha-arets] of the land” (Numbers 13:20). They did, as he requested:

Numbers 13:23-27

Then they [the spies] came to the Valley of Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [Cluster], because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land [et p’ri ha-arets]. So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit [pir’yah]. 

The land was good and filled with bountiful harvest! Within the fruitful land, the people would also be fruitful and multiply:

Leviticus 26:3-5, 9-12

[YHWH:] “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit [pir’yow]. Indeed, your threshing season will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. So you will eat your food to the full and live securely in your land…

…So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful [w-hi-p’reti] and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. And you will eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 

In this fruitful land, God would walk among them. That was a beautiful promise, reminiscent of the beautiful Eden that Adam and Eve left behind.

The Offering: Fruit of the Ground

Early on, the people recognized that a bountiful harvest was a gift from God; giving something back to God was a way of saying thanks. Shortly after leaving the Garden, Adam and Eve were “fruitful” and had two sons: Abel and Cain. On their own, these two sons decided to bring and offering to YHWH:

Genesis 4:3-7

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to YHWH from the fruit of the ground [mi-peri ha-adamah]. Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And YHWH had regard for Abel and his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. Then YHWH said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 

YHWH recognized the difference between the offerings. Both were good, but Abel brought an offering that involved a terrible price. A firstborn animal that had the breath of life within it was sacrificed. Literally, the text tells us that YHWH gazed at (had regard for) Abel’s offering, but He did not gaze at (regard) Cain’s offering. What caught God’s eye? The sacrifice that foreshadowed the great price that God would place on His own Son… the firstborn sacrifice. 

Of course this upset Cain. He had given the fruit of the land to God. Was that not enough? The fact that God did not gaze at his offering put Cain into a murderous rage… sin lurked at the door and it mastered Cain. Abel died at the hands of his brother and lost his ability to be fruitful. Cain, on the other hand, retreated further into the barren wilderness.

The thing is, the fruit of the land was always God’s to begin with. 

Leviticus 27:30

“Now all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree [mi-p’ri ha-ets] , is YHWH’s; it is holy to YHWH.”

Fruit was not a bad offering to give. In fact, the people were required to give back to YHWH the first of the harvest… the first fruits of their garden. 

Deuteronomy 26:1-2

“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce fruit of the ground [p’ri ha-adamah] which you bring in from your land that YHWH your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where YHWH your God chooses to establish His name…”

This custom played a pivotal role in the Feast of Booths, which was held during the later harvest season:

Leviticus 23:39-40

“On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of YHWH for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit [p’ri] of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before YHWH your God for seven days.” 

Giving the first-fruits back to God was a way of saying thank-you, and a reminder that all good things come from YHWH and all good things go back to YHWH. We will one day return to YHWH’s Kingdom, like a first-fruit given back to its Creator.

Good Root, Good Fruit

Fruit was also used frequently as a metaphor for prosperity and productivity.

Isaiah 27:6

In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, and they will fill the whole world with fruit [p’ri].

Good roots would produce good fruit. Those who followed YHWH’s path would yield a bountiful harvest:  

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the Law of YHWH, and on His Law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit [pir’yow] in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Israel was to be faithful to YHWH, yielding good fruit, but when they wandered away from YHWH their roots withered:

Proverbs 12:12-14

The wicked person desires the plunder of evil people, but the root of the righteous is productive (yields fruit). An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, but the righteous will escape from trouble. A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit [mi-p’ri] of his words, and the deeds of a person’s hands will return to him.

Sometimes when life was prosperous and the fruit was bountiful, God was forgotten, and the people became wicked, devouring the fruit of lies:

Hosea 10:1-2, 12-14a

Israel is a luxuriant vine; he produces fruit [p;ri] for himself. The more his fruit [l-pir’yow], the more altars he made; the richer his land, the better he made the memorial stones. Their heart is deceitful; now they must suffer for their guilt. YHWH will break down their altars and destroy their memorial stones…

…Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness; harvest in accordance with kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek YHWH until He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies [p’ri kakhash]. Because you have trusted in your way, in your many warriors, an uproar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed.

What was once beautiful and good, humans abused and destroyed:

Jeremiah 2:7

[YHWH:] “I brought you into a bountiful land to eat its fruit [pir’yah] and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, and you made My inheritance an abomination.”

The Fruit of Your Deeds

Humans, with their bad deeds, defiled the land, but good deeds were like good fruit; they produced a quality harvest:

Jeremiah 17:7-10

“Blessed is the man who trusts in YHWH, and whose trust is YHWH. For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream, and does not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit [peri]. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, YHWH, search the heart, I test the mind, to give to each person according to his ways, according to the *results* fruit [ki-p’ri] of his deeds.”

But the fruit of the deeds of Israel did not always produce good fruit. 

Micah 7:13

And the earth will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants, on account of the fruit [ki-p’ri] of their deeds.

Their deeds were often wicked and they played with fire by turning to the foreign gods of their neighbours. They turned away from God and so God respected their decision and turned away from them. As a result, the Assyrian army invaded the Northern tribes of Israel and they were devastated. After their success in the North, Assyria turned its sights towards Jerusalem, but YHWH would stop the Assyrian king because his harvest was the fruit of arrogance:

Isaiah 10:12

So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart [p’ri godel l’vav] of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.”

YHWH would turn His face towards Jerusalem and protect His holy city from Assyria:

2 Kings 19:29-34 (see also Isaiah 37:30-32)

“Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit [pir’yam]. The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit [p’ri] upward. For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors out of Mount Zion. The zeal of YHWH will perform this. Therefore this is what YHWH says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,’ declares YHWH. ‘For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”

YHWH would look after Judah; they would take root downward and bear fruit upward. YHWH saved Jerusalem from Assyrian invasion and they flourished in the years ahead. But two centuries later the fruit that was produced by the deeds of the people became so wicked that YHWH had to let Jerusalem go. They had turned to worship the god Molech and they sacrificed their own children to this Canaanite god. YHWH had to stop them in their tracks:

Jeremiah 21:13-14

“Behold, I am against you, you inhabitant of the valley, you rocky plain,” declares YHWH, “You who say, ‘Who will come down against us? Or who will enter our dwellings?’ But I will punish you according to the *results* fruit [ki-p’ri] of your deeds,” declares YHWH, “And I will kindle a fire in its forest so that it may devour all its surroundings.”

Yeshua also spoke of the fruit of those whose deeds were wicked… in particular, false, ravenous, prophets:

Matthew 7:15-20

[Jesus:] “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

Uprooted: Withering Fruit

Those who turned away from YHWH, YHWH respected their decision and turned away from them. As a result, the Babylonian’s came and conquered Jerusalem. They were uprooted and sent into exile to Babylon:

Ezekiel 19:10-14

“Your mother [Zion] was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the waters; it was fruitful [po’riyah] and thick with branches because of abundant waters. And it had strong stems fit for scepters of rulers, and its height was raised above the clouds so that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches. But it was uprooted in fury; it was thrown down to the ground; and the east wind dried up its fruit [pir’yah]. Its strong stem was torn out so that it withered; the fire consumed it. And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And fire has gone out from its stem; it has consumed its shoots and fruit [pir’yah], so that there is no strong stem in it, a scepter to rule.” This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.

This was certainly a song of mourning. The people lost everything to Babylon- their homes, their culture, their place of worship. They were marched out of Jerusalem, but YHWH promised to stay with them and bring them back home:

Ezekiel 34:25-27 (see also Ezekiel 36:8-11)

“And I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful animals from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will make showers fall in their season; they will be showers of blessing. Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit [pir’yow] and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am YHWH, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have saved them from the hand of those who enslaved them.”

Good, Wise, Fruit-bearers

According to YHWH, our good fruit comes from Him:

Hosea 14:8-9

Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant juniper; from Me comes your fruit [per’yi’ka]. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of YHWH are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but wrongdoers will stumble in them.

All that is good and abundant comes from YHWH, such as wisdom and righteousness:

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit [p’ri] of the righteous is a tree of life, and one who is wise gains souls.

Righteousness and wisdom were the best of fruits. Wisdom, personified, said this: “My fruit [pir’yi] is better than gold, even pure gold” (Proverbs 8:19a).

We have a choice of what kind of fruit we want to devour. Do we want to consume life-giving goodness or that which produces death:

Proverbs 18:20-21

With the fruit [mi-p’ri] of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit [pir’yah].

The Future Fruitful Garden

From a prophetic point of view, the goal was to return to Eden… the pure, everlasting, fruitful, Garden of God. The prophet Amos, spoke of a future day when YHWH would victoriously lead his people into an everlasting land where they would never be uprooted:

Amos 9:13-15

“Behold, days are coming,” declares YHWH, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed; when the mountains will drip grape juice, and all the hills will come apart. I will also restore the fortunes of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and live in them; they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit [et p’rihem]. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not be uprooted again from their land which I have given them,” says YHWH your God.

Where was this fruitful garden, the place they would never uprooted? The prophet Ezekiel spoke of its beginnings with God:

Ezekiel 17:22-24

This is what the Lord YHWH says: “I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, so that it may bring forth branches and bear fruit [peri], and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I am YHWH; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am YHWH; I have spoken, and I will perform it.”

This was the place where YHWH would walk among them… the new Eden, the new Jerusalem… the place where YHWH would take His stand amongst the people!

Isaiah 4:2-3

On that day the Branch of YHWH will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit [u-p’ri] of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel. And it will come about that the one who is left in Zion and remains behind in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.

The prophet Ezekiel saw this garden, that (he noted) received water from the Temple, as an ever-producing place of abundance and healing:

Ezekiel 47:12 

And by the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit [pir’yow] will not fail. They will produce (fruit) every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit [pir’yow] will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

John the Apostle envisioned the same thing as Ezekiel in his revelatory writings:

Revelation 22:1-2

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit [Greek: karpous], yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The prophet Malachi saw this beautiful place, overflowing with blessings, as a place protected by YHWH. YHWH would stand against the Devourer… the Adversary who wanted to destroy the Garden… and rebuke him:

Malachi 3:10-12

[YHWH:] “…I will rebuke the Devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit [et p’ri] of your ground; nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless (barren) to you,” says YHWH of armies. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says YHWH of armies.

But how would YHWH succeed in this plan? How would this everlasting Garden Kingdom flourish in this world?

Yeshua: the Fruit of the Body

Back, at the beginning of the story, Cain offered fruit to God and his brother, Abel, offered the firstborn of his flock. It was the firstborn offering that caught the eye of YHWH. It was His firstborn that He would sacrifice for His people in order to bring His Kingdom to fruition. The prophet Micah reflected on this:

Micah 6:6-8

With what shall I come to YHWH and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does YHWH take pleasure in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, the fruit of my body [p’ri bit’ni] for the sin of my soul? He has told you, mortal one, what is good; and what does YHWH require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

We do not have to sacrifice the fruit of our bodies, because YHWH would send the fruit of His own body. This fruit of YHWH’s body would be fully divine and fully human… something the Adversary would never expect. This human would come from the line of David, announced a thousand years before Yeshua came to the earth:

Psalm 132:10-18

For the sake of Your servant David, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed. YHWH has sworn to David a truth from which He will not turn back: “I will set upon your throne one from the fruit of  your body [mi-p’ri bit’n’ka]. If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I will teach them, their sons also will sit upon your throne forever.” For YHWH has chosen Zion; He has desired it as His dwelling place. This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her food; I will satisfy her needy with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her godly ones will sing aloud for joy. I will make the horn of David spring forth there. I have prepared a lamp for My anointed. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but upon himself his crown will gleam.”

Yeshua, from the line of David, would come as the Anointed (Messiah), the true vine and fruit-bearer:

John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Yeshua was the first fruit of YHWH… His unique Son, the perfect Image and absolute reflection of His heavenly Father. He would also come as the sacrificed first-born Lamb of God. The ultimate offering. 

By giving His life over to the enemy, He would walk into His enemy’s domain, death, and conquer it. The grave would not hold Him down. He became the first-fruit offering on our behalf so that we don’t have to pay such a grave price to enter the Kingdom. The fee has been paid. God’s abundant, fruitful, Garden awaits us.

In the Bible, being fruitful and multiplying wasn’t just about having kids… it’s so much more than that. We are YHWH’s image bearers and so, by God’s Spirit, we must bear good fruit, so that we can be His reflection to those around us. 

What should that reflection look like? Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit [Greek: karpos] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

May your life be filled abundantly with the fruit of the Spirit… and may you share that fruit with everyone around you. Shalom!

Next week: lacking, on empty