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In the new year, many people look to better themselves through New Year's Resolutions. The majority of people seem to chose changing their eating habits and/or starting a diet. Many of us know of the new recommendation for fruit and vegetable servings has increased to 9 a day! That is certainly a lot of servings! It's important to feed our bodies with good and healthy food.

But what if we followed God's recommendations for daily fruit servings? It is just as important to fill our souls with generous servings of the ‘Fruit of the Spirit'! "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5: 22-23). How could we better ourselves using these as our resolutions? What if we got our full servings of the ‘Fruit of the Spirit' every day? Better yet, what if we shared these with others?

Let's explore how we might get these servings every day. 1) Love - we hear about love every day and it is the most important of the commandments! Put in an extra effort to make room in your heart so God can fill you with His love. 2) Joy - my favorite fruit! Joy is contagious! If we are filled with joy, others will sense it and pass it on. 3) Peace - how about having a big serving before driving? Let's show peace to others on the road for our safety and that of others. 4) Patience - a true gift. Not gifted with patience? Pick one person that you will be more patient with this week. 5) Kindness - how about making a conscious effort to be more kind to those in your own home? 6) Goodness - this would include giving of ourselves and being generous with our gifts. It could be as simple as smiling to two extra people a day. 7) Faithfulness - to Him! One way to show faithfulness is through prayer. For instance, try incorporating a short prayer of thanks at every stoplight. 8) Gentleness - this could mean being more gentle with yourself - especially if you are always your worst critic. 9) Self-control - another one many of us struggle with. Ask God for His help if you have negative outbursts or other behavior that you can no longer control. If this last one is truly a daily battle, seek outside help.

Even though it's great to get ideas and to make resolutions, we cannot do it alone. It is through God that we have the ‘Fruit of the Spirit'. And through Him, the fruit will grow. So let's get started on the "diet" of healthy ‘Fruit of the Spirit' servings for our souls!

Compliments of Practical Family Living, Inc.
P.O. Box 1676, Appleton, WI 54912 (920) 720-8920

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