The fruit of the Spirit’s not a coconut. The fruit of the Spirit’s not a coconut. If you wanna be a coconut, you might as well hear it. You can’t be a fruit of the Spirit. Because the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. HEY! Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
This song has been forever stuck in my brain from the time I learned it at church camp as a middle schooler. At the time, I just thought it was a catchy song to help me remember Galatians 5:22–23. Today, it resonates so much more deeply in my heart as I consistently look to God to infuse me with the fruits of the Spirit.
One morning during my quiet time with The Lord, I asked Jesus to reveal what He values most about our relationship. While meditating on this question, I reflected on something my squad leader Jami taught me this month: the fruit of the Spirit that you find most evident in your life is generally the attribute that you’ve experienced God to be.
This broke me. I did not feel like I truly possessed any of the fruits of the Spirit. So, I asked the person who knows me best, my mom. She later sent me an email that read,
So I looked at the fruits of the Spirit like you asked, and one just JUMPED out at me as being totally you- faithfulness. You are loyal like crazy to people who you care about, even if they have hurt you. Once you give someone a bit of your heart, they have it always. Good for them, not always good for you! But it’s a wonderful trait, because it’s important in life to have people you always know will be there if you need them. And you have always kept your faith?—?not perfectly, because none of us do, but you’ve never just walked away from God like a lot of people do. So see Him as faithful and know that you are too!
Wow. For the first time in a long time I had a newfound confidence, because I was seen as faithful. This may seem so small, but to me its impact was a game-changer. Something that has been a constant struggle in my life has been finding confidence in who I am and not comparing myself to others. I was never satisfied with my strengths, because I was too busy envying the strengths of others. Romans 12:4–5 says,
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Comparing my gifts to the gifts of others is like comparing apples to oranges. I can finally stand confident with the fruit that I possess, knowing every member of the body of Christ has something unique to bring to the table.
I love the message version of Galatians 5:25–26,
“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implication in every detail of our lives.”
At first, the fruits of the Spirit song was just an idea. It was just a sentiment. But now I have the desire to work out its implication in every detail in my life. It starts with what I know, and what I already know is His faithfulness. It starts small. In his book, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers said,
“Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already.”
That obedience requires a choice. God has the fruits of the Spirit readily available to us. We need only choose them and carry them in our walk with Jesus. While our flesh doesn’t hunger for the fruit, our spirit constantly craves it. The more we consume the fruit, the more and more like Jesus we become.
The fact of the matter is this: the fruit you carry will either bring death or life. When Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the garden, it brought death to all mankind. However, Jesus came to die to give us life and life more abundant. Part of that abundance is the gift of the fruit of the Spirit.
In the past I’ve let my insecurities speak to who I am, which brought death, instead of listening to who God says I am, which brings life. Because the Holy Spirit lives in me, I am confident knowing God says…
I am love.
I am joy.
I am peace.
I am patience.
I am kindness.
I am goodness.
I am faithfulness.
I am self-control.
These are the fruits Jesus desires to continually develop in us as we grow in intimacy with Him. And remember, 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. You can’t have it both ways. Either you choose death or you choose life.
Which will you choose?
