How to have the fruit

Galatians 5:22-23
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

What can we do to have and practice love, peace, self-control, or any of the fruits of the spirit in our daily lives? There are a myriad of self help books talking about this of course. No doubt some good ones. What can I do to practice "love my neighbor" with that person that always gets on my nerves? What can you do to find peace joy when you are stuck in a traffic jam or late for a deadline. Well there are always the positive affirmations that help. Or, you can remind yourself that God truly does love that neighbor.

While I was studying the verse an additional method came to mind. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit - why not let Jesus do the work in me? Now, before we start passing the blame along to quickly. What I means is, what can I do to allow or invite the Holy Spirit to work in my life, so His fruit grows and not the fruit of my own flesh. I think a huge part of the answer is very practical and can be done by anyone. Spend more time reading the bible, in prayer, even fasting. All these things will help us be closer to Christ, practice denying the flesh, and do the spiritual weight-lifting to prepare us for the challenges of life.

Jesus, please forgive me and be my Lord, Amen.