by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Pilot and I have a loquat tree in the backyard that sprang up from a seed dropped either by a squirrel or bird. We’ve watched the tree grow anticipating the day fruit would appear. This year was the year.

Every morning for the past month, Pilot has inspected the tree and waited for the moment he could don his Mr. Green Jeans overalls and harvest his fruit.

The other day before he left for work, he was confident the loquats would be ripe when he returned in the evening.

Around lunchtime, however, I made a terrible discovery…the loquats on the lower branches of the tree were gone.

After Pilot saw the damage our marauders had inflicted on his precious tree, he mentioned something about Mr. McGregor and a sieve.

Although the guilty squirrel stays put and listens when Pilot and I talk with him when caught in the act, he still does not comply. Sigh.

This has me thinking about our fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit we are to cultivate and bear.

We work hard to grow it, nurture it, bear fruit, only to have something in our life come along and snatch it away.

• Love – we do fine until someone hurts our feelings
• Joy – we do fine until fear creeps in
• Peace – we do fine until we have to face that annoying co-worker
• Kindness – we do fine until that irritating family member says one more thing
• Goodness – we do fine until we are asked for another favor
• Faithfulness – we do fine until we are lured away by something that caught our eye
• Gentleness – we do fine until our last nerve is struck
• Self-control – we do fine until that car pulls out in front of us and cuts us off

Next time marauders threaten to strip the fruit off our branches, perhaps we need to put on the whole Armor of God, stand firm and let him fight the battle. What do you think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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