Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

In opening up this week's Christian Paper Crafts Bible Verse Thursday Challenge Hostess Abby says, "In this scripture, the word 'fruit' refers to evidence of what is within. The fruit of the spirit are those characteristics, gracious habits, or spiritual fruits that reflect the glory of God through attitude, action and application."

She adds, "Notice the scripture doesn’t say 'fruits' of the spirit, but rather 'fruit'. The nine stand together: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and make up our walk with God. We will enjoy a bountiful harvest of spiritual fruit when we yield to God and allow His Spirit to work in us as we travel on life’s journey. Just as we reap the benefits from fresh fruit; those around us will reap the benefits of our spiritual fruit."

So. . .this card illustrates the gracious working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of believers. The different manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit in our life are represented by the different varieties of apples that are filling up and overflowing. May we be such a vessel for the Lord, full and overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit that we might be a sweet smelling fragrance to those who are being called to salvation!

CARD DETAILS
The background pattern was made by inking up the acrylic stamp blocks and stamping directly onto the paper. It was then trimmed and embossed. This wasn't intended to be a background, just a technique practice, but it looked workable and saved paper. This is the CPC Fun on Friday Challenge.

The main image was colored with Prismacolor pens and SU watercolor crayons using a blender pen. I added a bit of glitter to a couple of the apples. Portions were fussy cut so that the Out of the Box technique could be used with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Die. The result is that part of the image is die cut and part is "out of the box" meeting the CPC Clean and Simple Saturday challenge.

Card Stock: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Designer Paper: None

Ink: Old Olive, Ranger Distress Faded Lipstick, Bashful Blue

Accessories: Twill Tape, Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware, Sizzix Dots Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities Reverse Scallop Squares, Acrylic Block, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Blender Pen, Watercolor Crayons, Prisma color pens

Technique: Stamping, Coloring, Acrylic Blocks, Out of the Box, Fussy Cutting

Challenges:  

• Christian Paper Crafts Challenges:
  ~Clean and Simple Saturday 35 "Out of the Box"
  ~Bible Verse Thursday 114 "Fruit of the Spirit"
  ~Fun on Friday 113 "Use Your Acrylic Blocks"
• Flourishes Farm Fresh Challenge FLLCJUL11.