Burnt Dumplings and Good Fruit
day nine
The other day a mate texted, “We burnt dinner. Veg and dumplings. [name redacted] burnt her hand, oil splashed, the utensil snapped. Two-minute noodles for everyone and the kids only just in bed…. Everything is fine!” I laughed, because that is real life, and so relatable. And this is where Galatians 5 belongs, not in a retreat, but in the steam off the pot and the clatter on the floor. Fruit does not grow in a vacuum; it grows in weather. Some growth only happens under pressure. We pray for love and are handed a chance to love when we feel thin. We ask for patience and meet a delay we did not plan. It is not punishment; it is invitation. The Spirit does not skip the hard bits. He grows fruit there.
This isn’t about pretending everything is fine. It’s about learning to stay steady when the wind picks up. Love keeps showing up. Joy doesn’t borrow from circumstances. Peace remembers who is in the room. Patience takes a breath before it speaks. Goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — not fireworks, but fruit. Slow, real, lasting.
DAILY READINGS
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22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
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2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
DEEPER
Paul’s picture is earthy. The Spirit does not hand out personality upgrades; He grows fruit. Fruit takes time, weather, pruning, and a steady source of life. That is why Paul says, live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit. This is not white-knuckling; it is attachment. We belong to Jesus and, by daily choices, we align with His life moving through us. The contrast in Galatians 5 is stark. When the false self runs the show, communities splinter. When the Spirit leads, something different becomes possible: love holds, joy rises, peace steadies the room.
James adds what we often dodge. Trials are not wasted; they produce perseverance, and perseverance grows maturity. “Perfect and complete” does not mean spotless. It means whole, integrated. The testing of faith is not a pop quiz from a distant God. It is the gym where love learns to lift weight. Dallas Willard called this grace-driven effort: not earning, but participating. We cannot manufacture the fruit, but we can show up to the conditions where the Spirit loves to grow it.
So picture an ordinary afternoon. Your shoulders are tight. “No offence, but…” just landed in the thread. You lower your shoulders and pause before you reply. You name what you feel and invite the Spirit into it: Holy Spirit, grow Your fruit in me here. Then you take the next step that fits the prayer, a kinder tone, a slower sentence, a gentle boundary, silence instead of the last word. Formation happens in discomfort, but it does not happen alone. The Spirit is not outside with a clipboard; He is within you, widening your capacity to love.
Think of the river. In flood it is noisy. In drought it carves deep channels under the surface. Stretch is like that: hidden work, slow current, roots reaching for water. Trust that what the Spirit starts in the heat, He will ripen in time.
RESPOND
Where am I being stretched right now, and what fruit might the Spirit be growing in that exact place? What is one small step that would agree with His work today?
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, meet me in the stretch. Grow Your fruit where I feel thin. Give me love that stays, patience that slows my words, and peace that steadies my heart. Make me whole.
Also pray now for at least one new family to walk into our Sunday service this week and feel immediately at home.
ACTIVATE
Think back to a moment this week when you didn’t respond how you wanted. Now imagine a redo. What would it look like with the Spirit’s fruit shaping you? Ask Him for that grace next time.
“Don’t force the fruit. Stay in the current and let it come.”