Fruits are GOOD!

In doing my Bible study last week, I came to the famous "Fruits of the Spirit" part (Gal. 5:22-23). Although my girls know the 9 fruits listed there and we sing the song and read the book about the fruits regularly, I decided a "pre-back-to-school" refresher course couldn't hurt! We want to be our best come Monday when school starts! Being together every hour of every day really "forces" us to look to God for some character-building principles (I'm talking about myself here as well!). And, what better traits to strive towards than these 9 fruits!

We read and discussed the passage and then did a little project to hang in the playroom/schoolroom as a reminder through this school year:

As we read the passage, I had to take a moment, back up a few verses, and point out the acts of the sinful nature (omitting the first couple in order to avoid some extra questions!). Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, etc., etc. Whew! What a list of vices! Then, after reading the list of virtues, we got to my favorite part: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (v. 24-25) What an analogy! Just as Christ was crucified so that we might be free from sin and death, so also must we CHOOSE to crucify - sometimes daily - our sinful desires so that we can live for Christ and be free!

In doing the coloring, cutting, and pasting, we discussed the fruits that we needed most to work on (check out the orange in the fruit bowl!). So many of these fruits are intertwined. When we allow love to fill our hearts, then we can be kind to others. When we allow the "joy of the Lord" to enter in, then we have a peace that passeth all understanding! So on and so forth...

We are focused on beginning our new school year by learning to enjoy God's good fruit. And, if we forget at times (which we all will!), we now have a visual reminder hanging right beside the desk!

Cindy and crew