“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
Each Wednesday morning, I lead Chapel time for the children at the Childcare Center in Edmond. During this time, we come together to sing songs, praise God, and learn stories from the Bible. This year we’ve started off with a series about the Fruits of the Spirit, beginning with the fruit of Love!
The first morning, I asked the general question, “Who does God tell us we’re supposed to love?” I heard all kinds of answers; my mom and dad, my grandma, my brother, my dog, myself. While all of these are great answers, and quite correct, I then told them that the Bible also says we are to love our neighbors. So, I asked, “Who is your neighbor?” Some kids looked to each side and yelled the name of the child sitting next to them, some said their neighbor was the person who lives next door in their neighborhood, and a few looked at me like I was crazy (this happens often – no worries).
As I began to explain that our neighbors are everyone in the entire world, I saw little eyes grow big! Some thought it would be easy to love everyone, but others asked, “But what about someone who is mean to me?” Their eyes grew even bigger when I said, “Yes! Even those people who aren’t nice to us!” God says to love others, no matter what!” They all agreed they would do their best to practice loving their neighbors for the weeks to come. I’m excited to hear their stories of how they’ve loved others.
This also made me think about what we’re doing at home to teach our children about loving others, or to learn about any of the fruits that the Holy Spirit has planted in our hearts. I would like to challenge you to study all NINE fruits of the spirit as you can. On our St. Luke’s website, you can find a 9-week video series called THE NINE. Each video is followed by a short devotional which can help you and your family learn more about the Fruits of the Spirit as you grow in your faith. And that’s something we can do at any age!
– Taylor Easttom, Director of Children’s Ministry
