Picking Fruit

 By Sarah Bryant, Fellowship Bible Church Celebrate Recovery Devotional Team, 10/7/21

I don’t know about you but with all the craziness that’s been going on in the world the last year or so I can get worn down, and it can be hard to exemplify the fruit of the Spirit some days in the little things. 

I have to remind myself that it’s not the “fruits” of the Spirit – plural, where I can just pick one each day. 

Hold the door for an elderly lady (goodness), then tailgate someone on the interstate who is driving too slow (neither kindness nor patience). No, it’s the “fruit” of the Spirit – singular. One fruit. 

I like to think of it like a pomegranate, one fruit with a lot of seeds. I actually read a commentary the other day that said based on the original Greek it could actually be read with a colon after “love.” “But the fruit of the Spirit is love: joy, peace, patience…” Love being the fruit and the other eight items being the seeds. It’s a whole package wrapped up in love.

 

With that thought in mind I took a lighthearted but honest inventory this morning of some of the areas in my life where I’m currently struggling to live out the fruit of the Spirit.

 

            Love…your neighbor no matter how “woke” they think they are.

 

            Have Joy…even when your favorite brand of peanut butter is out of stock.

 

            Be at Peace…even when your neighbor pushes his mower past your bedroom window at 7am on a Saturday.

 

            Have Patience…even when your Amazon package delivery takes three days longer now.

           

            Show Kindness…even when you get cut off on the interstate. Keep those hand gestures   to a minimum.

 

            Do Goodness…even when your co-worker is an LSU fan, still help him with his expense             report.

 

            Exhibit Faithfulness…when you told someone you’d be there, but you really just want to            sit on the couch with your dog.

 

            Show Gentleness…even on Black Friday. Thou shall not trample a brother or sister over a sale on Instant Pots.

 

            And last but certainly not least…have Self Control…even during a Hogs game.

 

Maybe some of these resonate with you, or maybe you’ll take your own inventory. Because in all seriousness, I can’t expect to show love in the bigger things in life without practicing it in all the small day today situations.

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