“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 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 fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Matthew 7:15-20 NIV

The fruit of our lives reveals the root of our lives.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Galatians 5:13-15 NIV

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:16-18 NIV

“Flesh” speaks to the corruption of sin in our body and mind.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV

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 NIV

We’ve often valued the gifts of the Spirit to the exclusion of the fruit of the Spirit.

If you want to chart your progress on the spirituality journey, test the quality of your closest relationships—namely, by love and the fruit of the Spirit. Would the people who know you best say you are becoming more loving, joyful, and at peace? More patient and less frustrated? Kinder, gentler, softening with time, and pervaded by goodness? Faithful, especially in hard times, and self-controlled?
John Mark Comer, Practicing The Way

I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
John 15:5-8 NRSV

Abide (Greek:meno): to continue in, to remain present, to be held and kept continually.

Bearing fruit requires slowing down enough to give Jesus direct access to every aspect of our lives… Just because God has access to everything that is true about us does not mean God has access to us. Loving union is an act of surrender—giving God complete access—and we can’t do that in a hurry. We must be humbly accessible, with the door of our hearts continually open to him. Jesus doesn’t force that on us; it is something only we can do.
Pete Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader

We cannot offer the world what we aren’t receiving ourselves.

While we’re not meant to separate the different aspects of the fruit into individual pursuits, there are often one or two we wish we might see more of in our life. When you see Paul’s list in Galatians 5:22-23, which do you want to see more of in your life?

We bear fruit through abiding in Christ. In his book The Emotionally Healthy Leader, Pete Scazzero writes: “Bearing fruit requires slowing down enough to give Jesus direct access to every aspect of our lives… Just because God has access to everything that is true about us does not mean God has access to us. Loving union is an act of surrender—giving God complete access—and we can’t do that in a hurry. We must be humbly accessible, with the door of our hearts continually open to him. Jesus doesn’t force that on us; it is something only we can do.”

What might “slowing down” to abide look like in your life?