What’s Your Flavour?

It’s a children’s church classic, isn’t it?
‘The Fruit of the Spirit’
Learned by rote
Along with Noah and his boat
Jonah’s hungry whale
Peter’s watery stroll
That surprise hillside picnic
And how the disciples always seem just a little bit thick

We read it sing-song in Sunday school
Teaching our children
To be kind and gentle and good
Skipping lightly over the tricky bits
The convictingly uncomfortable bits
The ‘If you bite and devour each other,
Watch out or you will be
Destroyed by each other’ bits.

And I sometimes wonder if we sing-song
So much that we infantilise this fruit
And forget it’s not just nice
It’s essential
To living well with Christ

And that got me thinking
Am I living well with Christ?
Am I really planted deep in the Spirit?

Because if I reap what I sow
And I grow what I know
And I’m fed by what I’ve read
And watched and heard
On screens, on paper,
On faces in places
Or voices on stages
Or whatever the case is
Then what flavour is my fruit?

Am I bursting with the flavours
Of the Spirit’s daily cultivations?
Does my life taste like Spirit fruit?

Or has it got the bite
Of bitterness and bile
Of discord and dissent
Am I sowing seeds of hate
As love withers on my branches overhead

And honestly?
I’m not sure

Do I live by the Spirit,
And keep in step with the Spirit
Even when I’m running late
And that car’s only doing 28
And we’re out of milk for coffee
And I’m too tired and too busy
To keep my temper and my tongue

Do I live by the Spirit,
And keep in step with the Spirit
When my head’s full of heavy thoughts
Weighing down my frown
Threatening to drown
The part of me that really wants to
Live in the freedom Christ bought me

Do I live by the Spirit,
And keep in step with the Spirit
When I disagree with a friend
And I don’t listen when they’re talking
Because I’m too busy thinking
Of my next point-proving insight
And I forget it’s more important
To be kind than to be right

And that isn’t just rhymingly trite
It’s true

Because this fruit isn’t pick and mix
We’re not even aiming for our five a day
The fruit of the Spirit is not are

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

The fruit of the Spirit tastes exactly like
Loving my neighbour as myself.