The fruit of the spirit works in the same manner, as the arduous task of gardening, it requires nurturing and a labor of love to cultivate or bring forth what was planted. The farmer does not care who gets credit, but rather ensures every seedling makes it to harvest, and if a neighboring farm is in trouble, there is no contemplation, he will spare nothing to ensure their success as well. 1 Corinthians 3:7-8 explains it this way; 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. We must ensure that the spiritual seeds we plant are of the highest grade to guarantee a harvest in season. The quality of a seed is often based on the previous year’s harvest (for us that means what we have handed down from generation to generation), drought, floods, cold and heat, depending on their severity, may have an adverse effect on the that year’s harvest. Again, like us, if we water the seeds we have planted among the body of believers with an abundance of anger, unmeasured resentment, blistering cold bitterness, and the heat of hatefulness we cannot rightfully expect even a moderate return on investment, for our seed will not bear the desired fruit in season. Sometimes the impact is so adverse that the farm vanishes under the weight of foreclosure, and the once fertile ground, despite our best effort, ceases to bring forth any fruit at all. If I thereby sow the seeds of discord, envy, strife and confusion I will indeed reap the harvest of what I’ve planted. Likewise if the seeds that have been planted in me are of the same measure and quality, what hope do I have.
