Fruit of the spirit

Modeling the Fruit of the Spirit - Are Your Children Observing Good Fruit

Are you modeling the fruit of the spirit for your children? The fruits of the spirit consist of love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. The two most important 'fruits' being the first and last. The fruits of love and self-control are two of the most important character traits we as adults can model to our children and serve as filters to all the other fruits. Meaning if we are not displaying love and self-control then we cannot effectively show all the other fruits because we must build off of love and self-control for all the rest. Without having love in your heart how can you possibly show joy,kindness or goodness?

It's the same with self-control. If you have no self-control it's very difficult to show the fruits of faithfulness,peace,patience and gentleness. As someone who has tried on my own to obtain self-control and show love to the unloving, believe me it is almost impossible to gain these on your own. If you need help, humble yourself before God and ask him to help you display love and/or self-control in your life. He WILL answer your prayers if you are desperately serious in your request.

In every aspect of life we need to approach people with an attitude of love. If we approach situations and people without love then we are doing a disservice to our kids. Children learn best by observing and modeling us. That is why we need to have genuine love in our hearts-not just an act we put on in front of certain people. This is also why we need to ask for God's help here. Not many of us have a naturally loving spirit so we must continuously seek God's help to get to this point. Once we obtain a loving spirit towards others, we very easily pick up the characteristics of joy,kindness and goodness because these are all offshoots of love. Self-control may not be as easy to model to kids because how many times do we as parents lose our tempers with our children?

Kids see us at our worst because they tend to make us crazy as times and they are always beside us constantly observing. Consciously keeping the fruit of self-control on our minds, helps us to be less likely to lose our tempers or act out in situations we cannot control. What type of reaction do think a child would have if we are dealt a bad card in life and we just laugh it off saying "Well I guess I'll just be glad because being mad isn't going to help me at all!" Children who are beginning to frame their world will see the appropriate response. Then the next time they are put in a difficult or incontrollable situation they would know that they could make lemonade out of the lemons they have.

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Have you ever been around someone that seems to ooze the fruit of the spirit? You can see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and wonder how they do it?

Do you sometimes hear the same message or scripture from several sources within a short period of time? I have. Lately it's been the message of the "fruit of the spirit." When you hear something repeatedly, God's trying to tell you something.

Last night I talked to someone on the phone I had never met. She was a Christian author and excited about Jesus. I could hear her smile through the phone. Her energy was infectious and contagious. God was obviously present in her life. What does she have that I don't have? Even more important; how can I get that in my life?

I am very big on positive affirmations, meditating on the scriptures, prayer and all the positive thinking but it wasn't working for me. I was allowing fear to operate in my life. I had a spirit of confusion and fear that was dominating my optimism; my vision of the work God has blessed me with. I was acting like one of those Christians that I label as "being baptized in lemon juice." I was going around looking pitiful, acting pitiful and guess what? I was a self-fulfilling prophesy. I was pitiful.

2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified Bible) 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

When I sat down to read my Bible this morning I had planned on going back to Leviticus. I am working on a plan to get through the Bible in one year and I was going to pick up where I left off yesterday. I read parts from the Old and New Testament daily. God had other plans for me. I decided, or I should say He decided, I would read the book of Galatians.

I had a highlighting day. Do you do that? My Bible is so marked up from scriptures that leap out at me. Galatians 5:22-23 was already highlighted in my Bible but I felt compelled to go back and read it over and over again.

The last one listed in the fruits of the spirit is self-control. We need to be in control of our thoughts and the things that we speak, all the time. The moment we speak defeat or show doubt, Satan is right there to feed you more of the same. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy your hopes, dreams, and confidence. The devil is a liar. But, we have the one thing that Satan must bow down to and that's the word of God.

1 John 4:4 (NIV) 4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

If we operate in the spirit of love, God's word says that it covers over a multitude of sin. That's a tough thing to do when someone has been ugly to you isn't it? But, when we are unforgiving, hold a grudge, or act unloving to someone, it's like drinking poison yourself and expecting someone else to die. You are the one experiencing the toxic effects of that unloving spirit. To love other people and treat them in a loving manner just plain feels good doesn't it? You know in your heart of hearts that love is pleasing to God.

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

When we operate in the fruit of love, we experience joy. We see reasons to feel joyful all around us. Joy is being content with the life you are leading. Joy is being happy with what you do have rather than what you don't have.

Peace or calmness knows that God is in control. God is large and in charge. No amount of worrying is going to change what you are going through. Be at peace knowing that God is right there with you. It might not always work out the way we want it to but if you surrender your burden to your Heavenly Father it will always work out for the best.

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Here is one of our favorite words; patience. Am I the only one that struggles with that one? My intuition says probably not. God is not always on the same time table as us but let God be God. He knows what He's doing. If you treat people with kindness, you are most likely treated the same way. What you want to manifest most in your life is what you should be giving away freely.

Luke 6:38 (NLT) 38If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving--large or small--it will be used to measure what is given back to you."

In church, you most often hear the scripture above when it is time to collect the offering. I think we would be mistaken to think that Jesus was only referring to tithing. In fact, if you read the verse previous to this one, Jesus also talks about judgment, condemnation and forgiveness. So, whatever you give, you will also receive. Give kindness and it will be returned to you. Let your walk and talk always be filled with kindness.

Goodness is a conscious choice to do the right thing. It's more of an attitude of making the right choice that will benefit others more than benefit ourselves. The more we allow for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the more goodness becomes evident in our every day life. The ultimate act of goodness is when Jesus died on the cross for you and me. Jesus did not need to die for himself; he had no sin in his life. In God's goodness he sent Jesus Christ to be an example for us. In Jesus' goodness he died on the cross for us so that we may have eternal life. There was no benefit for Jesus in dying. It was all for us.

Faithfulness is something or someone that you can count on with no doubt at all in your mind or senses. When I think about why I love God so much it all comes down to God's faithfulness to me. Even though He owes me nothing I can count on Him for everything. He will NEVER leave me or forsake me. I don't know of anyone that I can trust that much. The word "trust" is grabbing me as I write it. That's how we develop faithfulness; by trust.

Modeling the Fruit of the Spirit - Are Your Children Observing Good Fruit

Fruit of the Spirit Spin and Toss: A Preschool Bible School Activity for Memorizing Gal 5:22

One of my favorite Bible verses has got to be Galatians 5:22-23 which gives us the wonderful "Fruit of the Spirit." This is because it was one of the first Scripture songs I ever wrote. I love sharing this verse with children of all ages but when I share it with preschoolers I tend to focus on the first 3 fruits of love, joy and peace. Here is a fun Bible school activity to help your little ones learn the first part of this verse. I call it "Fruit of the Spirit Spin and Toss."

Here's what you do:

For this activity you will need to create 9 large circles the children will toss. I created mine from the tops and bottoms of frozen juice cans. On 3 of the circles, attach a picture of a heart. On 3, attach a picture of a joyful smile and on the last 3 attach a picture of a peaceful sleeping baby or child. You will also need a large bowl or bag into which the circles will be tossed. Finally, you will want to make a line on the floor with a piece of chalk or tape behind which the children will toss the circles.

Here's how to play:

Pick a child to come forward and stand behind the line. Before letting him toss the 9 circles into the bowl, slowly spin him around while saying the following Bible verse to a bit of a beat. Emphasize the words I have underlined:

"But the fruit of the Spirit

Is love, joy and peace..."

After the giggles subside, let the child toss the circles into the bowl one at a time. Count how many circles made it in the bucket by encouraging your little ones to count along with you. Then point out which kind of "fruit" made it into the bucket - love, joy or peace. When showing each circle, you might say, "God wants us to love one another," or "God wants us to be joyful," or "God wants us to be peaceful." After every child has had at least one turn. You might want to conclude your activity by handing out fruit cups.

Before playing this Bible school activity, you might want to introduce it in the following way:

Who can tell me their favorite fruit? (Wait for responses.) I'm so glad all of you like fruit. Did you guys know that God loves fruit too? He does. He loves apples and oranges and grapes just like you, but He also loves a special kind of fruit called the Fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy and peace. When we have love, joy and peace in our lives we will be sweet and "yummy" to everyone we meet just like a good piece of fruit. Let's play a fun game to help us remember God's wonderful Fruit of the Spirit. It's called "Fruit of the Spirit Spin and Toss."

Next, if you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up to today to receive Scripture Lady's Free Email Kid Tips packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE BIBLE REVIEW GAMES to help get the kids you minister to excited about the Bible!

Are You Exemplifying the Fruit of the Spirit?

It's common that we have influences in our life but as we grow mature in Christ we start to discover who we are in Him. Many times we're looking to others for validation when our true validation comes from Christ.

In the process of seeking the approval of others we lose focus on where the true validation comes from. Because of this, some people start to emulate the behaviors of people that they look up to.

I believe that there is nothing wrong with looking up to others, the concern that I have is what types of people are we looking up to? Do you take into consideration the types of people and role models you have in your life?

I think that we should look inside and ask ourselves these important questions. We should choose to expose ourselves to role models who have a positive impact on our lives. When we think of role model type figures, we should think of someone who models the fruit of the Spirit.

The bible tells us in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

Are we exemplifying this behavior? We should aspire to represent the fruit on a consistent basis. I believe that it's time that we as believers are to step up and take on the responsibility of exemplifying these Christlike behaviors.

The world is looking at us and they are looking for us to show the love, peace and kindness that Jesus commands us to show. We hear so many stories about people who were in the church and made a judgment on the church based on there experience. Unfortunately, the people of the church have been stereotyped as being hypocritical.

Lets be an example for others who need to see that positive role model. For some people you're the only Jesus they're going to see. I encourage you to practice modeling the fruit of the Spirit as you go forth in your life journey.