Removing the Peeling

The Fruits of The Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness. Self Control. Galatians 5:22-23

Growing a fruit-filled life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control seems beyond our grasp. Why? Because we think that growing such fruit is about being nice, and we think it is all up to us to produce these fruits. Neither is true.

It's not about being nice. The truth is that the fruit of the Spirit is about being like Jesus. Jesus was always demonstrated the qualities of the Fruits. But these qualities did not always wear the peeling of "nice" in His interactions with people. His Love was acted out in telling a prostitute to stop sinning, and in ordering religious leaders to quit making faith harder than God intended it to be. His kindness led Him to touch an outcast leper during a time when such an action was strictly prohibited. His peace put him to sleep in a boat with his disciples in the middle of a storm out at sea. Such moments do not define "niceness", but they are definitely fruit-filled.
The Fruit of the Spirit grows when WE let God do His job. When WE let Him live these qualities in us and through us, as we are growing in OUR relationship with Him.

Removing the peeling from the fruit is to be honest. Naked fruit is about getting past the peeling of "nice" Christianity and getting down to the honest, simple truth. What is the honest simple truth? Being like Jesus.

God makes it simple. We make it hard. We want to grow a life that matters, and God wants to grow such a life in us. That is fruit minus the peeling. Naked Fruit. Taste it is good.

Strive to be a Christ Follower.