Soul Fruit

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Tiny seeds speckle the palms of my hands. A gust of wind could blow them away, so I hold them close as I poke holes into the freshly laid soil, drop them in place, and cover them with dirt.

Every year I find myself in the same predicament: anxious to plant these little seeds. It’s not the planting that worries me; it’s the waiting, the hoping, the day-by-day checking to see if they’ll sprout.

What if this is the year they don’t grow? What if snails sneak in overnight and eat the baby sprouts, like they did last year? What if I get too busy and forget to water each morning, and the sun scorches the flowers beyond recovery?

Though part of me rejoices when planting day finally arrives, I’m still a skeptic at heart, doubting God’s ability to grow good fruit from such small, unimpressive seeds. Gardening is an act of pure faith. We dig, sow, water, weed, prune, and tend without being able to see the results at first—just clinging to the hope that we will one day enjoy the benefits of our labor.

When it comes to tending gardens and our souls, we tend to focus on growth and fruit. But what if it’s not just about visible changes but about what’s happening in the soil of our hearts?

Every year, my small seeds remind me that God uses both ordinary and monumental circumstances to mold, shape, teach, and grow us (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). Instead of focusing only on the fruit, we must start with gratitude for the gift of small beginnings and trust the growth to God (see 1 Corinthians 3:8-9).

Our lives are filled with opportunities to sow truth, such as speaking an encouraging word to a friend at just the right moment or sharing our faith with the person seated next to us on an airplane, or hugging the child who needs a reminder they are unconditionally loved (see Galatians 6:7-9; Ephesians 4:15, 29). The hours of our lives are filled with sowing moments and opportunities to grow in our faith as we trust God, the Gardener, to bring fruit in his perfect time.

As we root our faith firmly in the Word of God, God produces soul fruit within us. With our hope set on Jesus, we plant seeds in the soil of our own hearts and in the hearts of others, even though we don’t know what fruit will come, if any at all (see Hebrews 6:19).

We press on, poking holes in the dirt and planting seeds, because even if nothing grows from the seeds we plant, we know that God is growing us all the while—teaching us to trust him, love him, and rely on him as he grows fruit in his own perfect time.

Word before World God, the Gardener, produces soul fruit in our lives as we plant seeds of obedience to his commands.

Grow in Grace Think of someone you admire whose life demonstrates good fruit for the Kingdom. Talk to them about their journey of growth and how the master Gardener has worked in their life over the years.