Fruit of the Spirit Smoothie

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 (HCSB)

Ahhh! Summer and fruit! What a treat!

Our family has been going through some watermelon, and hopefully we will have a bumper crop in our garden this year.

And peaches! Oh yes, we will make a stop on our July beach trip as the peach harvest will be in peak – fresh, juicy, and delicious! We eat them with the fuzz and all!

And even later on, as summer comes to a close, my crew will help my dad pick the gorgeous grape clusters from his vineyard.

Fresh fruit is all around us in the summer months. And I must say I was thrilled to learn that Weight Watchers allows one to have unlimited fruit! (“Just don’t go bananas on bananas!”;)) No doubt about it! Fruit is an awesome and healthy summer snack!

This past weekend, our lesson in 5th grade Sunday school happened to be on the Fruit of the Spirit. As I prepared the activity, the teacher’s guide suggested making a fruit smoothie. However, the recipe looked rather boring, using orange juice, plain yogurt, and a small amount of fresh fruit.

We purchased a Vitamix last year that I have grown to love and it makes the best, most healthy treats! It is way more powerful than a regular blender!

As I pondered over the lesson plan and the passage of Scripture, I thought it may be a good idea to pack up my Vitamix and take it to Sunday school. Taking a measuring cup, lots of different fresh fruit, and some ice, the kids enjoyed a special treat and hopefully a clear message about living out the fruit of the Spirit.

You see, the measuring cup was for the #1 ingredient in the Fruit of the Spirit Smoothie – water! The water represents the Holy Spirit living inside of us. That is, Jesus living in us. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Living Water (John 4:10).

The key to a Fruit of the Spirit Smoothie is making sure to put in the Living Water first! Because it is impossible to live out the fruit of the Spirit without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Next, we added different types of fruit to represent the fruit of the Spirit - strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, an apple, kiwi, an orange, a banana, grapes, peaches and a lemon. Actually, we ended up with more fruit that there were “fruit of the Spirit” listed in the verses!

But the lemon had a specific purpose. It represents faith. You’ve probably heard, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” We all get handed lemons in life. It takes faith to believe that God will work all things for good (Romans 8:28). God can take our lemons and make sweet, refreshing lemonade when we have faith.

And lastly, we needed to throw in lots of ice to make our smoothie. Though ice is not a fruit, it is a good representation of self-control. How many times do I need to cool down when I feel myself start to explode? Whether it’s anger management or not finishing off the leftover birthday cake (and we’ve had a lot of birthday cake lately!), it takes self-control to STOP. Count to 10, go for a walk, chew a piece of gum…whatever it takes to NOT indulge the flesh!

And believe me, I’m preaching to myself!

Making smoothies will never quite be the same for me now. The recipe for a Spirit-filled life is dependent upon one basic ingredient – living water. I will always need WATER. And I will always need ICE (frozen water).

Heavenly Father, help me to always remember to start my day with the Holy Spirit. The Living Water of Jesus is necessary for me to survive spiritually. I desire to live out the Fruit of the Spirit in my life, but I realize I cannot do it alone. Fill me up, Lord, with your Holy Spirit and help me to feed my mind and body with things that are good and healthy. May I live a life that is glorifying to You.


Christy