THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT'S NOT A COCONUT, BUT IT OUGHT TO BE!

 

The fruit of the Spirit’s not a coconut!

The fruit of the Spirit’s not a coconut!

If you want to be a coconut, you might as well hear it, you can’t be a fruit of the Spirit!

‘Cause the fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness

and self-contro-o-o-l!

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My kids sing those lyrics and it's a cute and catchy way to memorize the "fruits of the Spirit". Those are found in Galatians 5:22 and 23. Those verses say this, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." The passage is contrasting the results, or fruits, of both the spirit and the flesh. The context is that these fruits are the result of living for the desires of the Spirit instead of seeking to fulfill the desires of the flesh, which produces some rather naughty fruits.

Memorizing these words is a great thing for any Christian to do. We could all use these words of wisdom, and often we need to have them right in our heart to be easily reached. These fruits are often most needed in a moment of pressure, when we've had no time to prepare ourselves.

Fruit plus pressure equals juice. My family loves juice! We love to make our own fresh squeezed juice in our handy dandy Jack Lalanne juicer. You can squeeze all kinds of fruit, but you can't squeeze a coconut! Well, I imagine there is some way to squeeze a coconut, but even our Jack Lalanne juicer can't juice a coconut. I wish my spiritual fruit was like that. I wish it was like a coconut.  But it's not.

"Don't let it squeeze your fruit!" My wife and I use that saying to remind each other that the fruit of the spirit is not optional, even though our car is a magnet for numbskulls, our children's behavior resembles scientific evidence of evolution from apes, and the neighbor's dog feels that his role in life is to be the department of homeland security...all night long! The fruit of the spirit is never optional! Since my personal weakness of the flesh is frustration, my wife get's to use this line often. It's a quick and easy way to defuse my reactions and bring to mind a profound message in a few words.

The fruit of the spirit's not a coconut, but it ought to be like one. Whatever has you frustrated, don't let it squeeze your fruit!