The Fruit of the Spirit

Deuteronomy 6

Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Well, this verse has been consuming my heart and thoughts for weeks now. In the recent past, I started a devotional with the girls and read it during breakfast. They didn't like it...they didn't get it. So, I came to the conclusion, I need to try something else. Then, I remembered in a passing thought, my friend Amber had a picture of a tree with fruit in her house with the names of her children and the fruit of the spirit written with their names. Ok, great idea! Then I went to visit Cincinnati and my mom and I talked about teaching the kids God's word and truth and weaving it throughout every aspect of life. Then this same theme was talked about again in a book I've been reading on and off this summer. So, I prayed for the Lord to show me ways for His word to come alive in our family. I want to teach and show my girls what it means to know and love the Lord wholeheartedly. I want my children to know and love God's word.

The first teaching we have focused on is the fruit of the spirit.

Galatians 5:22
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!