Bruised Fruit

I baked a pie, and while I worked on that, I came across this poor, bruised apple.

And I kind of stopped. I wondered if I should just chuck this apple. It had been in the fruit basket, at the bottom, and had been kicked around a bit, it seemed.

But instead, I cut a little deeper.  And the damaged area got a little smaller. And while it was obviously still bruised, and I knew that I would have to cut deeper still, I felt as though I could salvage this apple for my pie.

So I did. I cut away the brown, damaged pieces. In doing so, to make sure that I had truly removed all the nastiness inside, I even had to cut away parts that appeared unharmed. Pieces of fruit that looked white, and firm, and healthy. Because I knew that underneath that, they had been tainted by the bad spot.

I was reminded of a Beth Moore bible study that I did with some other women from my church a few years ago. We spent a number of weeks discussing the Fruit of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal. 5:22-23 (NIV)

I love this verse. It doesn't get much more straight-forward than that. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-Control. These 9 things, separate yet intertwined, are the foundation of who we are, and how we treat others. And you know what?

They're hard.

You look at that list, and you think - "I can do that!" And then, in a loss of patience with a spouse or child, you also lose that self-control. You speak a harsh word to a loved one, in lieu of a tongue of joy and kindness. You plan, in your heart, to be consistent and faithful about something like going to the gym, or folding the laundry as soon as you take it from the dryer. And then, you miss just once, and begin to slide down the slope completely.

So, today, I'm going back and trying again. I'm cutting away the bruises in my fruit. I am even going to cut away parts that, to my own eye, look to be healthy, because I know they are tainted. Chances are, I'm not going to be 100% successful this time either, but I will be faithful and diligent about my efforts. And glad that I can cut away the bruises, and still get fruit enough to make a sweet finish, fit to share with those I love.