I wanted to talk about the fruit of the Spirit yesterday. David was having a tough time being patient with his sister. Several times he became angry when she didn’t move out of the way fast enough. But I didn’t know how to explain the fruit of the Spirit. He’s not saved, so all he has is common grace. Should I explain that when he is “saved,” he’ll have the fruit of the spirit? Or maybe it’s good just to explain that God wants us to be patient, and the fruit of the spirit shows us that. The passage also reveals that Holy Spirit shows us how and when to be patient. When I was a child, I didn’t really understand the point of that Galatians passage. It was just a fun song with all the qualities I should try to have in my own life. I suppose it would be a good passage for memory, but I would probably want to teach the whole chapter. I tend to avoid these kinds of verses for memory right now, because I want to focus on declarative passages (attributes of God rather than commands). Maybe this one would be helpful because it shows the mechanism of “being good,” as long as I explain that he doesn’t have this mechanism yet.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
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