|
Fruits of the Spirit and How we Can Show Them to Others
Here is a basic overview of the fruits of the spirit and how these can be demonstrated in a child's life. For a more biblical understanding look up the accompanying bible verses and read them out loud to add to the child bible lesson.
LOVE
Deuteronomy 6:5 says we should "love the Lord God with all our hearts and our entire being and might". That's a pretty strong love isn't it? But how do we do this? Well, first we can show God we love him by talking to him through prayer. We can also show him we love him by listening to and obeying his commandments. Usually we do this by obeying our parents and teachers. The commandment to love God is the first and most important commandment.(Matthew 22:38) We can also show love toward others. God has commanded us in Matthew 22:39 "to love our neighbor as you love yourself". Most of us love ourselves a lot because we are always making sure we are taken care of. We like to be well fed, clothed and entertained. What would happen if we put that much time and energy into loving other people? Some ways we can show others we love them is by helping others, acting nice to all people and hugging those we love. We can also show love to others by sharing what we have with others and serving others with our gifts and talents. Love is one of the fruits of the spirit. JOY When we start loving others we also feel joy in our lives. Romans 15:13 says "may the God of our hope fill you with joy and peace in believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing with hope". Isn't it nice to know that joy comes to us as a gift from God when we practice loving others? Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. PEACE Isaiah 26:3 "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he commits himself to you, leans on you and hopes confidently in you". God wants us to always be in peace no matter what the situation is we are going though. When we have peace we are calm and content on the inside and don't have anger towards others. One way we can stay at peace is to keep our focus on God and think and meditate on him instead of our problems. This gives God the chance to change our situation and help us. Peace is another one of the fruits of the spirit. PATIENCE Hebrews 6:15 "And so it was that he (Abraham) having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained (through the birth of Isaac) what God had promised him". Patience means we are willing to wait for a while to get what we want without becoming anxious or angry. It is very hard to be patient. Many of us have to practice patience all our lives but the more opportunities we have to practice patience the better we get. And when we wait patiently for something for a long time, God rewards us. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. KINDNESS Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies and be kind and do good and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense(reward) will be great, and you will be sons of the Most high, for he is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked". Sometimes we are kind to people who are not kind to us and it makes us feel like kindness doesn't work. The enemy is trying to make you feel that way so you will stop being kind to others. But don't let him change your mind. God promises us that if we love our enemies and are kind to them without expecting anything in return, then God will reward us. If you continue to be merciful to those that are mean to you and do kind things for them you will receive something back from God that is much better than what anyone else can give you. Kindness is another of the fruits of the spirit. GOODNESS Titus 3:14 "And let our own people learn to apply themselves to good deeds so that they may be able to meet necessary demands whenever the occasion may require and not be living idle and uncultivated and unfruitful lives". God wants us to be good to everyone not just those who are good to us. When we reach out and do good things for others without being paid we are giving God the glory because we are the hands of Jesus.Goodness is one of the fruits of the spirit. FAITH II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith not by sight or appearance". God wants us to be able to fully trust in him which can mean we don't know where we are going or what God wants us to do next. Sometimes that can be a scary feeling not being able to predict what will happen. But when we have faith God is leading us, we can be peaceful and content that everything will all be o.k. because God is in control. Faith means believing, even when we can't see God and knowing he hears our prayers and is always there for us. Most of us have faith that our parents will always be there to take care of us. God wants us to have that same faith in him. Faith is another of the fruits of the spirit. GENTLENESS Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle(meek), and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls". When we become meek(gentle) and humble just like Jesus was, then he hears our prayers and helps us to be at peace. Jesus wants us to give him our problems and not try to take them on ourselves. When we do we will be at peace. Jesus was gentle, never harsh or controlling. This is what we should also strive for. Gentleness is one of the fruits of the spirit. SELF-CONTROL Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation but one who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning".This verse talks about Jesus staying in self-control even though he was tempted to sin many times. It is not wrong to be tempted and we should not feel bad about feeling tempted. Everyone is tempted, even Jesus was tempted. We will always have the temptation to sin as long as we are alive, but we have self-control over our minds and bodies because we have the spirit of God living in us. When we are tempted to sin, we should pray and ask for help when the temptations are strong. Self-Control is already available to us, we just need lots of practice using it and resisting temptation. Self-Control is the last of the fruits of the spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 speaks of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It tells us that we should always strive to live and walk in the Holy Spirit always showing our 'fruit'. Just like a tree bears apples,pears or peaches we also bear 'fruit'. It's just a different kind of fruit. God tells us that if we walk in the fruits of the spirit or we show love,joy,peace, patience,kindness,goodness and faithfulness then we will also produce good fruit, just like the apple tree. But if we choose not to walk in the fruits of the spirit, then we will produce dried up, useless fruit or no fruit at all. Do you like to find a juicy piece of fruit on a fruit tree? Well, God also expects to see that we are producing good fruit that is big and flavorful. But if we don't show the fruits of the spirit toward others, then we cannot produce good fruit. If we have problems showing any of the fruits mentioned above, then we should pray and ask for God's help so we can show people our fruit. Here are some great fruit of the spirit resources for young kids:
Fruits of the Spirit resources © Beth Rimstidt 2005 Permission is given for non-profit use of the information from this web page provided it is accompanied by the citation: Used by permission of Beth Rimstidt www.child-bible-lessons.com All requests for other uses will be considered. Please ask.
|