Christ Jesus, cultivate in me the holy fruits of the Spirit...

 
Galatians 5: 16-26

 
For a tree to bear good fruit, it needs to be pruned, fertilized, protected from weeds and winds and attended by bees – hundreds of them.  So I, if I am to bear the good and holy fruits of the Spirit, need to be tended by a master gardener who specializes in spiritual cultivation, who understands the rules of spiritual pruning and grafting, who can dig out ‘weeds’ of sin that threaten the roots of my being, and who can protect me from the blights of shallow individualism, and materialism,  and allow and attract the ‘bees’ – other people -  who help ‘pollinate’ the buds in me. When I rely on, and submit to, the Holy Spirit of God at work around, in, and through me, then my being will, over time, produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Am I willing to patiently submit to the kind and experienced hand of God that my being might produce the holy and life-giving fruits of the Spirit of God? Christ Jesus, cultivate in me the holy fruits of the Spirit.
                                                       
It is the Lord .. who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.   (Psalm 103:4)
 
What is important is how well we love. God will make our
love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.    
Henry Nouwen
 
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Soli ad gloriam Dei