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Foundatiins – Episode 95 -  Fruit of the Spirit · Your Daily Grace

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  Hello. Welcome to your Daily Grace. By Timothy Wilder Foundations Episode 95 the Fruit of the Spirit the slow, steady growth of the Spirit One of the hardest lessons for me to learn in my walk with God has been spiritual. Fruit grows slowly. I used to expect instant change, immediate maturity and quick results.
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  But the Spirit doesn't rush transformation. He grows fruit the same way God grows anything in creation. Quietly, gradually, and often imperceptibly.
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  Jesus describes this process when he says, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.
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  The seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. Mark 4, 26, 29. That progression, Blade, ear, full grain has become a comfort to me. It reminds me that growth is real, even when it feels slow.
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  I've had seasons where I wondered if anything was changing in me at all.
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  I couldn't see fruit. I couldn't measure progress. But Jesus says the seed grows even when the farmer isn't watching. The Spirit works in hidden places beneath the surface, shaping us in ways we often recognize only in hindsight. Slow growth is still growth, and steady growth is often the most lasting kind.
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  James uses another image to help us understand.
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  Be patient. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth. You also be patient. Establish your hearts. James 5, 7 and 8 farmers don't panic when growth takes time. They expect it. They trust the process. They know fruit has its own pace. I've had to learn that same patience with myself.
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  The Spirit is not in a hurry. He is forming Christ in me one season at a time. My job is not to accelerate the process, but to stay rooted, stay open, and stay patient.
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  Peter gives us a picture of this gradual formation when he writes, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control.
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  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful.
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  Second Peter 1, 5, 8.
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  I love that phrase, are increasing. Peter doesn't say these qualities appear instantly. He says, they grow, they expand, they deepen. And the presence of growth, even slow growth, is evidence that the Spirit is at work.
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  I've noticed that the Spirit rarely grows fruit in dramatic leaps.
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  He grows it through daily choices, quiet moments, small obediences, and repeated surrender. It's the slow accumulation of grace over time. It's the steady shaping of my desires.
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  It's the gradual softening of my heart. And often it's the painful pruning of things that hinder growth.
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  The writer of Hebrews captures this reality. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
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  Hebrews 12:11 later, not instantly, not immediately later, fruit grows through process.
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  There have been times when I wished the Spirit would hurry, times when I wanted patience right now or gentleness right now or or self control right now. But the Spirit grows fruit in seasons not seconds and the longer I walk with him the more grateful I am for his pace.
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  Slow growth is deep growth, slow growth is rooted growth. Slow growth is lasting growth.
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  The Spirit is not forming us in a moment, he is forming us over a lifetime and every quiet step, every small surrender, every hidden work contributes to the fruit he is producing.
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  These things help us spread the message of grace.