By Richard Reid
Category 1 – Love, Joy and Peace
Love:
How is the seed linked to Love? 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
God is the starter kit which can be likened to the embryo of the seed. So, if God is love, it would imply that the very start of spiritual growth is love. Perhaps this is why love is the first Fruit flavor. The idea of love being the first flavor leads one to the idea that the order of the Fruit flavors may be important. Let’s see if there is a flow that aligns with the path of one’s spiritual growth.
For this idea to be valid, there ought to be a flow from one flavor to the next. As we will see, there is both a connection to the seed and a flow from flavor to flavor.
Joy:
We see both a flow and connection between God’s love, Jesus’s joy and our joy. John 15:10 says If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
A connection and flow is further shown when Jesus states in John 15:11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Peace:
A connection between joy and peace is shown in Isaiah 55:12 “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace…”
Jesus is also directly linked to Peace in Isaiah 9:6 which states For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 shows that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and Galatians 3:16 shows he is also the seed (Galatians 3:16, “… And to thy seed, which is Christ.)
Category 2 – Patience, Kindness and Goodness
It makes sense that having peace makes it a lot easier for us to also have patience. And furthermore, having patience makes it easier for us to be kind and good. This path of thinking continues to support the idea of a flow from one Fruit of the Spirit flavor to the next. It seems to be an additive relationship.
In other words, as each flavor is added, we find that one grows spiritually.
Luke 8:15(KJV) states, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Category 3: Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control
As a further example of an additive relationship, Faith shows a growth beyond the previous flavors and also links to the seed.
Faith:
We see this linkage in Matthew 13:31-32, where Jesus “… told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Jesus further goes on to say in Matthew 17:20, “… Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a
mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Also, in Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
So, Faith shows an additive connection (i.e. nothing is impossible) between seed, growth, God and us.
Gentleness:
As further confirmation of flow, there is a link between gentleness and the next Fruit flavor, self-control.
This linkage can be seen in the form of forgiveness.
Matthew 6:14-15 says “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Notice that this linkage also connects directly to God. So, within this connection we see the seed directly joining to the flavors of gentleness and self-control while they simultaneously interconnect with each other.
Self-Control:
Finally, we get to the last Fruit of the Spirit flavor. It is last for a reason. Self-Control is the bottom line in our path to spiritual growth. For without self-control, we simply cannot grow spiritually.
Proverbs 25:28 states, “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self- control.”
Proverbs basically is telling us that without self-control not only will we not grow, but we will instead self-destruct.
In fact, this is one reason that God gave us the law (Ten Commandments) as a guide for us to know how to beneficially focus our self-control.
For now, suffice to say that Jesus summarized self-control in one word; from Galatians 5:14 (KJV) he says, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself. The key word here is “Love”.
Notice the direct link from the last Fruit flavor Self-Control all the way back to the first Fruit flavor “Love” which is connected through the seed.
It is interesting to note that Jesus also stated in Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” It is as if the Fruit flavors connect together and encircle the seed, similar to the pulp and skin of a Fruit wrapping about and encompassing the Fruit seed.
Summary:
There is only one Seed of the Fruit of the Spirit, and there are three parts to this seed: Coat, Embryo and Cotyledon. Biblically these three parts of the Seed are God the Father, Jesus the son and the Holy Spirit. God is like the seed’s embryo (starter kit), Jesus is like the seed’s protective coat and the Holy Spirit helps us to grow spiritually like the cotyledon helps a Fruit to grow.
Also, they each have a connection to the Fruit of the Spirit flavors which flow from one to the next and show a direct relationship to our spiritual growth. Each Fruit flavor connects directly to the seed and each also inter-connects with each other much like the pulp and skin of a Fruit encircle and encompass the seed of a fruit.
