So, if you read my post here, you know that instead of giving something up for Lent this year, I’m adding fruit to my diet. The fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It works out just right if I focus on each fruit for five days. So far, I’ve tackled love, joy, peace, forbearance and kindness (through Saturday).
Love – This one was great–and it coincided with Valentine’s Day. I tried to give a little “extra” love each day. Flowers for a friend, an e-mail, a phone call, a kind word, a smile. Just so you know, handing out love feels GOOD.
Joy – Well, I’m kind of naturally happy. And I got some really wonderful news one  day that made me feel joy right down to my toes. It’s almost like God is playing along with me . . .
Peace – Okay, now it gets trickier. We’re going through a challenging time at church and it would be easy to let anger and frustration rise to the surface. Thinking “peace” for five days was, once again, really good timing.
Forbearance – I had to look this one up–I know how to use it in a sentence, but what does it really mean? “A refraining from something.” Forbearance for me was about letting things go. Not feeling like I had to assert myself and protect my rights. My mostly imaginary rights. I’m trying to let God do that since he’s so much better at it.
Kindness – In some ways this is trickier than love. Love is a deep, even passionate feeling that begs to be poured out. Kindness has more to do with just being pleasant, being gentle and, well, nice. I’ll be working on kindness through Saturday. My inner grump (yes, I do have one!) will just have to pipe down.
That leaves goodness (oy!), faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to see me through to Good Friday. I’m enjoying this exercise. I feel like my daily dose of fruit has made me healthier already.
What fruit do you need to add to your diet?
What’s your favorite fruit?