Archive for the 'Faith Station' Category

Loving others as yourself

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 3 December 2009 in Christianity and Faith Station. 0 Comments

Matthew 22:34 – 39

Love is our natural birthright as a Christian – it’s an internal evidence of the Spirit within us. But the doing is external evidence for the world to see. That is the Fruit of the Spirit. We have love in us because God is Love; it’s getting it out that’s the problem. Continue reading ‘Loving others as yourself’

Personality and the Fruit of the Spirit

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 15 October 2009 in Christianity and Faith Station. 1 Comment

Galatians 5:16-26

Manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit is something all Christians can and should do. It is not dependent upon our personalities. As someone who is socially confident and obviously gifted in creative and spiritual things, I used to believe that the opposite of me is what a Christian should be. Surely quiet, ‘background’ people are naturally more gentle, faithful, patient and self-controlled. Continue reading ‘Personality and the Fruit of the Spirit’

Fruit that will last

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 22 September 2009 in Christianity, Faith Station and Gardening. 0 Comments

Matthew 15:1-17

The cantelope pepper I told you about yesterday turned out to be a bit of a one hit wonder. It bore one gorgeous, tasty, fleshy red fruit, but that was it. Meanwhile, the little chilli took its time and finally produced a small, but significant crop. I had to decide between keeping the flashy pepper or the faithful chilli as the latter was slowly being strangled by the former. One needed to be cut back so the other could grow. Continue reading ‘Fruit that will last’

By their fruit you will know them

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 17 September 2009 in Christianity and Faith Station. 1 Comment

I once had a chilli plant growing in my kitchen. Year after year it produced the hottest little chillis you could imagine. And it was beautiful too. I loved my chilli plant and actually shed a tear when it died after my housesitter forgot to water it when I was away on a month-long holiday. Fortunately I had dried some of the chillis so I used them to replant. I prepared the soil with the best compost I could find, planted the seeds, watered them and put them on a sunny window sill.

About a month later the chillis began to grow. But one plant outdid its siblings: the shoots were greener, the leaves bigger and the first flower was enormous. It was only when the fruit began to form and became round and bulbous that I realised this wasn’t a chilli but a cantelope pepper. I now have a scrawny chilli plant in the same pot as this high achiever but because their root balls are so entwined I can’t separate them.

In Matthew 7:15 – 23 Jesus warns people about the fruit of false prophets. They appeared to be one thing but turned out to be something else. However, this principle can be applied more broadly to all people and all Christians. We will be judged not by our potential or what we claim to be, but what, in the end, we finally produce.  By their fruit you will know them.

This meditation is taken from a series in Faith Station. Published by King’s Cross Training.