Plucking Fruit - What Do You Bear?

"One's failure to love | Is a tree which yields no fruit | Leaving all hearts starved" 

  Heart of a Queen - Poetry and Prose from the Soul, 

© 2013 Write Right Publications

We've all heard it countless times. From our mother and auntie to girlfriends and co-workers and some of us, have even uttered the words ourselves.

"Oh my goodness! He is plucking my last nerve!?"

In those moments when we find ourselves utterly annoyed or aghast at someone's behavior, it is easy to give them control over our emotions, lending our last slice of peace.

Lord forbid we "wake up on the wrong side of the bed", then every little thing rubs us the wrong way as we project negative energy on any and everybody who crosses our path.

So, what are we to do about these nuances? Are we to give every person who plucks our nerves a piece of our mind or...

...maybe if we change what we make available for plucking.

Think of it like this: If we are the branches that were created to bear fruit, we have to be mindful of what fruit we're bearing.

If the Fruit of the Spirit are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control" then, why is it that our nerves are so easily exposed?

If we learn to consistently take the time to consume those same wonderfully nutrient rich fruits daily, we will find that our FRUIT is being plucked instead of our nerves.

This is not to be unrealistic. It is only natural for life's dramas and all the players in it to potentially frustrate us to a certain level of aggravation. But what does being quick to speak and react do for a situation?

A change of perspective can make all the difference. Although our emotions are real, we must not be ruled by them. When those moments in life arise, stop and ask yourself, "what fruit am I bearing?"