The Trouble with Artificial Fruit

Artificial fruit has one rather impressive quality. It can look perfectly ripe for years without ever needing water, sunlight, or a little attention. Set a bowl of it on the table, and everything looks wonderful. Of course, nobody wants to take a bite out of it.

Following Jesus brings a genuine desire to grow, and it's natural to look for signs that growth is happening. Reading Scripture, praying, serving others, and making good choices can all be part of growing in our relationship with Him. Over time, though, it's possible to become so focused on doing the right things that we begin measuring our relationship with God by how well we're performing. We learn what a faithful life should look like, while some of our deepest attitudes and desires remain surprisingly resistant to change.

Jesus spoke about recognizing a tree by its fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and the other qualities of His Spirit reveal the kind of life growing within us. And that's where things get interesting, because fruit grows from the life of the tree itself. No amount of arranging the branches can make it appear.

That raises an interesting question about following Jesus. How much of our energy goes toward managing what people can see, while the deeper work of changing our hearts remains unfinished?

Paul wrestles with that very tension in Romans 6 and 7. His explanation takes us back to what Jesus has already accomplished and the freedom that becomes possible through His Spirit.

Learning to Live Free

Freedom is a powerful word, especially for people who have spent years feeling controlled by something they wish they could escape. For some, it's a habit that keeps returning. For others, it's the need to be right, the fear of losing control, or the quiet belief that their worth depends on how well they perform.

When Paul talks about freedom, he reaches back into one of the most important stories in Israel's history. God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, led them through the Red Sea, and brought them into a new relationship with Him. Their old master no longer had authority over them. They belonged to the God who had rescued them, and they were beginning to learn what life with Him looked like.

That same movement from slavery to freedom is central to what Jesus has accomplished. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has broken the power of sin and opened the way into new life. Baptism becomes a picture of that reality. The old life is buried with Christ, and a new life begins in Him.

Leaving Egypt was a significant moment in Israel's story, but generations of slavery had influenced how they understood themselves and the world around them. Learning to trust God with their future would take time. The same struggle can surface in our own lives as we follow Jesus. Old habits and ways of thinking can be deeply rooted, especially when anger feels justified, pride convinces us to defend ourselves, or fear makes it difficult to release control. Even with a genuine desire to follow Jesus, we can find ourselves returning to responses that have become familiar over the years.

Freedom begins with what Jesus has already done. Learning to live in that freedom is an ongoing journey of trusting Him with the parts of ourselves that still resist His leading.

When Knowing Better Doesn't Change Us

God gave Israel His law to show them what it meant to live as His people. It revealed His character, His goodness, and the kind of relationships He desired for them. They knew what was right, and still they struggled.

Think about a speed limit sign. It clearly tells a driver what the law requires, but it has very little influence over the desire to get somewhere faster. A driver might even start calculating how far over the limit they can go without getting caught. The sign has done its job. The heart of the driver is another matter entirely.

Paul uses Romans 7 to explore that struggle. He describes wanting to do good and repeatedly finding himself doing what he knows is wrong. His words echo Israel's history and reach all the way back to humanity's first attempts to live independently of God.

Our motives can be surprisingly difficult to recognize, especially when we're convinced we're doing the right thing. We might genuinely want to be patient with someone, while mentally rehearsing everything we'd like to say the next time they upset us. We can care deeply about justice and still find ourselves wanting to win an argument. Even our commitment to following Jesus can become tangled with the desire to prove we're doing well. It's worth considering how easily we can convince ourselves that our intentions are good, especially when there's something we're reluctant to surrender.

And the mind can be remarkably skilled at explaining it all away. Pride begins to sound like conviction. Fear presents itself as wisdom. The very reasoning meant to help make good decisions can end up defending the impulses that need to change. God's instructions help reveal what is happening, and Jesus reaches into the heart of it.

The more closely a person examines their own efforts, the clearer the need for His grace becomes. There comes a point where the most faithful response is simply to acknowledge the limits of human strength and trust the One who has promised to give new life.

The Freedom of Surrender

Paul brings this long and sometimes uncomfortable argument to a remarkable conclusion:

"So now there is no condemnation
for those who belong to Christ Jesus."
- Romans 8:1, NLT

Consider the weight of those words. After describing humanity's struggle with sin, the inability of the law to change the heart, and the frustration of wanting to do good while continuing to fall short, Paul arrives at Jesus.

Through Him, God has done what humanity could never accomplish on its own. And through the Holy Spirit, the life Jesus has made possible can begin to grow within those who belong to Him.

The Holy Spirit knows us in ways we're still learning to understand ourselves. He sees what lies behind our reactions, even when we struggle to make sense of them. As we grow more attentive to His voice, we begin to recognize the places where we've been relying on our own understanding and strength. And in those moments, we have an opportunity to trust Him with what He's revealing. Over time, His presence begins to influence the way we think and respond, allowing the character of Jesus to become increasingly evident in our lives.

The question becomes one of surrender. Where might the Holy Spirit be drawing attention to something that needs to be released? It may involve the desire to defend ourselves or the need to control an outcome that feels uncertain.

Surrender can feel especially difficult when the struggle has lasted a long time. There is comfort in having a plan and believing that enough determination will eventually make everything better. Trusting Jesus with those deeply familiar patterns requires humility, patience, and a willingness to listen.

One of the most beautiful parts of this freedom is knowing that God continues His work even while people are learning how to live in it. In each act of surrender, the life of Jesus becomes a little more visible.

And that brings us back to the fruit tree. The evidence of a healthy tree eventually becomes visible in what it produces. As we remain connected to Jesus, the fruit of His Spirit begins to tell the story of what He's doing within us.

The next step may be as simple as bringing one familiar struggle before Him and praying, *Holy Spirit, help me recognize what is happening in my heart. Teach me to trust You here.*