Cultivating and Sharing the Fruits of the Spirit
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He warns, “Beware of false prophets … by their fruits you will know them ... Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:15-17). How can we be “good trees” bearing “good fruit”? What is the “fruit” that Jesus speaks of?
St. Paul provides us with guidance here, as he aligns the fruits of the Spirit with the virtues — characteristics that enable the concrete imitation of Christ in the world. As sharers in the Life of Christ by virtue of our baptism, we are commissioned (see, for example, Matthew 28:19) to be His hands and feet in the world, making disciples of all nations. Therefore, by cultivating the virtues, we are not only imitating Christ, but we are also participating in the reconciliation of all things to Him (see Colossians 1:20).
The Fruits as Virtues
Paul tells us that Christ has called us to freedom (Galatians 5:13), that this freedom in Christ compels us to “serve one another through love,” and that loving our neighbor as ourselves is the whole of the law (5:14). He also writes that the “flesh has desires against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh” (5:17).
It is important to note that the Church does not support a false dichotomy between the body and soul. After all, God Himself took on human likeness for our salvation (Philippians 2:6-11). The body is good, to be sure. Therefore, what Paul is after is not a condemnation of the body but, rather, of concupiscence — the inclination toward sin that exists within us because of the fall (Catechism of the Catholic Church 405).
Paul writes that we can observe the “works of the flesh … immorality, impurity … hatreds, rivalry, jealousy … acts of selfishness … occasions of envy … and the like” (Galatians 5:19-20). Likewise, we can observe the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:22-23). As members of the mystical Body of Christ, our “flesh with its passions and desires” has been crucified with Christ (5:24), and we are called to live by the Spirit (5:25).
Putting on the New Self
To be crucified with Christ is to “put away the old self” with our corrupted vices (Ephesians 4:20-24) and “put on the new self” by imitating Christ’s virtues. In his instruction to the newly baptized (“Baptismal Instruction”), St. John Chrysostom writes, “Those who have dedicated themselves to Christ have nailed themselves to Him by this dedication and have jeered at the concupiscence of the body, just as if they had crucified themselves together with those passions and desires.” He challenges the new Christians: “Since we have become Christ’s and have put Him on … let us train ourselves to live as men who have nothing in common with the affairs of the present life.”
Notice the instruction to “train ourselves.” We can affirm the hard and consistent work of breaking the habits of sin and cultivating new habits of virtue. For example, when we are passed up for a promotion or a local competitor is experiencing more success than we are, what is our reaction? Are we jealous? Do we wallow in self-pity?
Due to our fallen human nature, our inclination toward this reaction — toward sin — is a sub-natural, “less-than'' human response. We are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), and, therefore, are called to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Although we cannot fully realize perfection on this side of eternity, we work diligently to grow in perfection. Each moment, each interaction with another person, affords us the opportunity to choose what we love: vice or virtue. In his commentary on Galatians 5, St. Augustine writes, “It is clear that we live according to what we have followed, while we will follow what we have loved.” Therefore, to love Christ is to imitate Him.
The Dominican theologian Yves Congar writes in his tome “I Believe in the Holy Spirit” that the fruits of the Spirit, as described by Paul, are a manifestation of love:
“... presenting the reader with a fragile imitation of Christ who was ‘gentle and lowly in heart’ (Mt 11:29), a man given up to God and a man for others, free, truthful, demanding, merciful, recollected and open to all men. The opposite portrait would be one of violence, aggressive self-assertion and a refusal to be available to or to accept others … The Christian is open and dedicated to God, to his brothers and to the world at the same time.”
The Divine Gardener
Now, what is the “good tree” Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount? The obvious answer is that we are the “good trees” — but we did not plant ourselves, and we don’t even sustain ourselves. God created us and sustains our lives even now, but even more, as members of the mystical Body of Christ, sharers of His Life, we are given grace. The sacraments impart grace upon us in a very particular way, as they incorporate us into the Body of Christ.
He planted the seeds of the virtues within us; let us nurture them and, by cooperation with His grace, allow the Divine Gardener to cultivate the fertile ground of our hearts so as to bring forth fruit, not only for ourselves but also for others. In our practice of Christ’s virtues, such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” (Galatians 5:22), we make His love present to others, nourishing their hearts and, in a very real way, reconciling all things to Him (Colossians 1:20).
Vanessa Crescio is an accountant with the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. She earned an MBA from Notre Dame and worked in the real estate and banking industries prior to serving in church management roles at the parish and diocesan levels. She is working toward a Master of Theological Studies at Newman University and is interested in thinking through co-responsibility in the Church and developing leadership programs to form Catholics to serve the Church with not only their knowledge, skills, and abilities but with the servant heart of Christ. Read more of her writing at FRESHImage, and follow her on Instagram.