From Gift to Fruit

The Power in a Gift is the Fruit that it Produces for Others

 Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

It Starts with a Gift

In my previous blog, I introduced the concept of gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit (Thus, the term “spiritual gifts”). But what if you’re a Christian and you say, “I never received my gift!” Imagine all your friends and family throwing a huge birthday party for you. Everyone was there. It was a huge success! Until, sometime after the fact, God asks you, “Did you get my gift?” Now, what would shock you more: the idea of God speaking to you, or Him telling you He gave you a gift you claim you never received? This is what I’ve been trying to convey in my last two blogs. If you are a Christian:

• GOD, the one and only creator of the universe, has given all Christians a gift (maybe more).
• This GIFT is specifically and uniquely designed for you to use and enjoy.
• This GIFT will change your life — totally. It will give your life meaning and purpose more than any gift you have ever received.
• The RESULTS of this gift are made possible because the SPIRIT of the living God will reside in you and work through you.   
• The BODY of Christ (the church) will fulfill their true calling when they have worked together (as a healthy body) to help you claim your gift, use your gift, and shown you how to grow your gift.

So, how could you have possibly missed such a wonderful event? Well, this is where (I believe) the church (or at least some churches) have failed their people and their mission. The reality is that, if you are a Christian and have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will indwell you and make a Temple inside you. This was made possible by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, where all our sins were forgiven and we were washed clean so that our bodies could become a place for the Holy Spirit to reside. As a result, you will receive whatever gifts the Holy Spirit deems are the perfect gifts for you. BUT, here’s the catch. As a new baby Christian, you need your Church body to help you prepare for, identify, receive, and nourish your gift(s). How does that work?

How Jesus intended for you to Prepare for, Receive, and Nourish Your Gift

What are the chances that a newborn baby could survive without its parents? Slim and none, right? In a similar way, when the church body fails to nourish and care for ALL parts of its body, the whole body suffers and may even die. When Jesus left His disciples, He gave them the Holy Spirit and, for a time, the disciples used their combined gifts to create the greatest religious movement of all time. Gradually, the power of that movement seems to have diminished. Why? What happened? Has the Holy Spirit abandoned us?

NEVER! Whenever we seek to understand why things are no longer the same, we must look to humanity, not to God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The New Testament clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit will give different gifts to different people according to His will. However, in order for those gifts to reach their full potential, the church must:

• Help new converts IDENTIFY which gift(s) they have been given.
• INSTRUCT them on how to use their gift(s).
• AFFIRM them when they see a gift being used where it is clear that the Holy Spirit was responsible and people were blessed by the use of your gift.
• ENCOURAGE the continued use and development of their gift(s).

Now, for some, the concept of spiritual gifts may be somewhat controversial, especially if you’ve ever had any exposure to a Christian coming from the “charismatic” or Pentecostal movement. They place an emphasis on certain specific gifts (like speaking in tongues) as if they were the only gift given by the Holy Spirit. As a result, these movements have led some Christians to be skeptical of receiving spiritual gifts. But, I assure you, the gifts are both real and vital to the health of the church body as long as all gifts are treated as relevant. My interpretation of how the Holy Spirit imparts gifts on us is often much more subtle. If you’ve ever had a stranger in a church greet you and ask, “How are you doing today?” They may simply be naturally friendly, or they may be asking due to what they perceive as a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple. Let’s suppose that the person greeting you is a new Christian, and they just don’t know what caused them to blurt out that greeting. Unless they have someone in the church who guides them in the gifts and can help them recognize that the Holy Spirit of God has just worked through them, how will they know what gifts they have, much less when and how to use them? Do you see my point? Each church body will receive its own unique set of gifts to make its body function best according to its unique calling.

So what happens to the person who becomes a Christian, but doesn’t have a church body? The Holy Spirit will still give you one or more gifts and often help you to see them, and grow under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But I believe that all Christians grow faster and healthier when they are nurtured by their church.    The role of the church is to identify, instruct, affirm, and encourage all gifts that are seen in its members. Only then can its members reach their full potential. By understanding their unique gifts, they gain confidence in utilizing them. And, the more they are used, the stronger they get. The result is — when our gifts are used, they produce fruit. God gave us the Holy Spirit to give us gifts for one purpose and one purpose only. Our gifts are intended to produce fruit!  

What Do We Mean by “Fruit?”

When I think of “fruit” in this context, I think of the word “blessing.” When the Spirit works through a Christian and helps them manifest their gift, both the recipient and the deliverer are blessed. It could be a healing, an inspiring sermon, a kind word, a helpful hand, etc. In the book of John, Jesus said:

He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. John 7: 38 AMPC

At the time Jesus said this, the Spirit had “not yet been given“, but the meaning is clear: The goal of our life with Christ Jesus is to:

• Believe, cleave, trust, and rely on Jesus, and the result will be,
• Springs and rivers of living water flowing continuously from us.

The term “water” is often used in scripture to refer to the Holy Spirit. Thus, the image here is that Jesus wants us to be rivers of living water where the Holy Spirit is flowing continuously as a result of using our gift(s). Call it a blessing, or call it fruit, when the Holy Spirit is flowing through us freely (i.e., not encumbered by our own limitations, fears, or uncertainties), good things happen. Water brings life to all living things, and the spiritual water that flows from us when we use our gift(s) brings eternal life to those who receive it.

When an entire church allows the Spirit to flow through them freely, unselfishly, and humbly, the church works in harmony, doing the will of God. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:10 (NLT), “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” The result is a healthy, productive church that will care for its own members (its internal mission) and then reach out to the world, preaching the Gospel and caring for those in need (its external mission). To accomplish that goal, the church must work in harmony with ALL its members, with none being seen as more important than any other. In other words, the church should have no room for egos looking to impose their will on the masses. Instead, when the church focuses on teaching the Word, baptizing new converts, helping them discover and nourish their gifts, and then putting them to work, the church flourishes. Anything less is to sacrifice the true potential God designed for the church. Together and united, we grow. When we separate, each to their own way, we decline.

I have argued that much of the decline of the church can be attributed to church leaders’ failing to help their members develop their gifts. But I want to make it clear that the Holy Spirit has not been completely thwarted by this failure. The Spirit has always blessed believers with gifts. And, although it is difficult to grow without guidance and nourishment, the Holy Spirit will always find a way to accomplish the will and purpose of the Father. Great things have happened in the church, despite all its failures. Great people have arisen in the church, despite a lack of nourishment. Yet, just think of how much better it could be IF the church (and all its members) were functioning the way it’s described in Acts. When a church works together as a body, it is much more difficult for Satan to deceive and discourage us. So, when a church is struggling, how do we know when we are off the mark?

Scripture has given us a measuring stick for determining whether our fruit is coming from the Spirit or our own ego (or worse, an evil spirit). The Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians: “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5: 22-23 NIV  And again, in 2 Peter, the Apostle Peter said:

With these gifts you can share in God’s nature, and the world will not ruin you with its evil desires. ⁵ Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; ⁶ and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; ⁷ and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love. ⁸ If all these things are in you and are growing, they will help you to be useful and productive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1: 4-8 NCV (emphasis mine)

Notice that it is not enough to just receive a gift. Your gift must bear fruit that not only blesses those with whom the gift is shared, but it should also change you!

Finally, a Complete Image of the Healthy Church

As we conclude our study of the church and its role in God’s Kingdom, let us examine how it was designed to function in relation to the Trinity. In a healthy church, every part of the church body is tuned into and working in concert with each part of the Trinity. When all parts are operating as God designed, the church and all its members are healthy, happy, and growing.