If you grew up in a Christian home, you know the obnoxious (yet incredibly catchy) songs to teach kids the fruit of the spirit. You said them over and over again to get points in vacation bible school, you memorized them early on in life; this passage of Scripture may be something you know forwards and backwards.

But can we talk about demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit today? How are you doing in this moment in demonstrating the fruits of the spirit?

First, let's cover them, just to be sure we're on the same page:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." Galatians 5:22-23

Here we have these nine characteristics, and the writer of Galatians, Paul, is telling the churches of Galatia to walk in the spirit. As believers, we have a very real battle of flesh versus spirit. Living in the flesh reflects a life that follows the world, while living in the spirit reflects a life that follows the Holy Spirit and the Word.

If we believe in who Jesus was and is, claiming salvation as our own, we're given the Spirit. If we're given the spirit, the fruit of the Spirit should be overflowing in our walk and our talk.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. These should be evident every single day.

Let me vulnerable with you for a second. I have a few of these that I struggle with more than others. I'm not always gentle (honestly, I'm a little obnoxious sometimes). I'm not always joyful. I'm not always kind. I'm not always faithful. I'm not able to control myself. And before I know it, I'm able to say I struggle with every single one of these. If I were to sit at the end of the day, checking off the list of the fruit of the Spirit that I displayed, I will always have at least one that I'm not able to check off.

Joy? Check.
Gentleness? Check.
Patience? Wait, no.

But we're human right?

We're prone to sin, we're sinful in nature, and we're going to fail at displaying these.

Which is yours?

Today, in this moment, wherever you're reading this, what is the fruit of the Spirit that you're battling with and struggling to demonstrate?

The cool thing about our faith is we don't only have the Spirit, but we also have an example. Jesus.

Jesus walked this Earth, flesh and blood, just like us. And He did a pretty awesome job at displaying these.

Time after time, we're called to walk like Jesus did, take after His example, follow His lead.

Jesus demonstrated love when He went to the cross willingly. Jesus demonstrated joy when He celebrated in festivities in different towns He traveled to. Jesus demonstrated peace when He calmed the seas. Jesus demonstrated patience when He took the time to answer the disciples questions that they asked again and again. Jesus demonstrated kindness when He spared the adulteress. Jesus demonstrated goodness when He healed the sick. Jesus demonstrated faithfulness when He rose again after being killed for our sake, just as He promised. Jesus demonstrated gentleness when He interacted with children. Jesus demonstrated self-control when the enemy tried to tempt Him.

Jesus is our example.

So let me ask you this: which fruit of the Spirit are you struggling to have or demonstrate?

In my journaling Bible, I have this prayer written next to Galatians 5:

Lord, which fruit am I struggling with today? Which is the least evident in me?

And here's the thing, if you're struggling with joy today, you might be radiating joy the next day, but struggling with self-control.

I don't say this to discourage you, but to show you it's normal. Your struggles are not just yours, but struggles that everyone experiences. These aren't called the fruit of Carrie, or the fruit of (fill in the blank with your name). These are the fruit of the Spirit. Without the Spirit's help, we can't truly grasp these.

It's like the disclaimer at the beginning of stunt videos, "do not try this at home." Sometimes I wish Paul included a huge disclaimer sticker in the text, big bold red letters. These can't be accomplished without the Spirit's help, taking you step by step into fluently living out these characteristics.

So how do we change this?

1. Be grounded in the Word
Being rooted in the Word of God leads us into a deeper level of these nine characteristics we're called to. It allows us to see examples of the fruit of the Spirit in action, and how we can practically apply them to our own life today.

2. Pray that the Lord would reveal your weakest fruit
No one takes medicine to get better before diagnosing an illness. In order to fix anything, we have to pinpoint our weakness. As we pray the prayer that I wrote out (not saying you have to copy mine, you do you, pal), it's going to be revealed which one we need to work on.

3. Make it a point to be more active
If you know me, you know I am not active at all, so if you just got nervous, I'm not referring to that, so you can wipe the sweat from your forehead. In the book of James, we're told that our faith should be active (James 2:22). Ask yourself how you can apply these. How can you demonstrate love to someone today? How you can demonstrate self-control?

Friends. I know you can do this. I know that you have the potential to radiate the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Choose to fill your life to the brim with the truth of Christ, and the rest will naturally overflow.