When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.
Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset
HEAD
When Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit, he wasn’t giving them another list of rules to follow! Paul was giving them a picture of what happens in our lives the more we trust God’s love for us and spend time with His Son, Jesus. He compared the Galatians (and you and me) to plants that grow fruit! Can you think of some plants that grow fruit?
Do apple trees grow grapes? (No!) An apple tree grows apples, and a grapevine grows grapes! Why? Because the fruit and the plant are connected! In the same way, when we are connected to the True Vine (Jesus), our lives grow the kinds of fruit that reflect the character of Jesus. In John 15, Jesus calls Himself the Vine and us, the branches of the vine. He says just like a branch cannot produce grapes by itself, we can’t grow fruit unless we are connected to Him. The fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—all grow from a life connected to Jesus, every day!
HEART
Can you name three things that help plants grow and produce good fruit? (Soil, water, sunlight) That’s right! The same is true for us. We need these things too. Just like a grapevine has roots deep down in rich soil, our roots must be planted deep in the soil of God’s love! (Knowing how much we are loved helps us love others!) We also need sunlight and water. Well, guess what?! Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World (John 8) and His Holy Spirit, the Living Water (John 4). When we spend time with Jesus (just like you are right now!), His Holy Spirit works inside our hearts and helps us to grow and change (becoming more and more like Jesus), just as if we were plants getting fresh water and sunshine every day.
HANDS
The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of a person who is growing to know, love, and follow Jesus. We can’t grow the fruit of the Spirit without being connected to Jesus and His Spirit working inside us! The more connected we are to Him, the more His Spirit helps good fruit grow in us! Spending time with Jesus in His word each day helps us to love others well, find joy in all things, experience peace when things are hard, be patient with others, show kindness to our friends and siblings, focus on the good, be faithful in our responsibilities, be gentle with other’s hearts and have self-control in our words and actions.
Spend a few minutes talking about the fruit you see growing in your family. Can you find evidence of the fruit of the Spirit anywhere—siblings being patient, showing love, being gentle? Talk about ways your family can share this good fruit with someone this week. (Share love, joy, patience, self-control…)
Prayer: Father, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus—who gave us the perfect example of what it looks like to stay connected to You and share the good fruit that comes from a relationship with You! Help us share the fruit You are growing in our lives with others around us!