Nurturing the Fruit of the Spirit
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control sounds like a parent’s wish list for their children. It’s the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s not plural because we plant the seed and nurture it as one. Each listed character trait is a different aspect of the fruit.
Parents nurture by modeling, disciplining, and encouraging the growth. They water it with love, understanding, joy, and time. Let’s look at a few ways to nurture the fruit.
- Love: Sow seeds of service. Serve your child with a smile and encourage opportunities for them to serve others with you, like making and serving a snack for a sibling or friend.
- Joy: Sow seeds of gratitude and inspiration. Rejoice in God and his creativity. Remind children that in God’s image they are creative.
- Peace: Help a child feel accepted and approved. That lessons the need to fight, whine, and push to get noticed. They feel more confident. Sow forgiveness to keep the heart secure and loving. That keeps out jealous and anger.
- Patience: Model patience and sow seeds of appreciation to encourage patience. Invest time in a children and they will be willing to wait and enjoy the moment.
- Kindness: Sow seeds of encouragement, Children will feel secure and willing to try things. They will also pass along encouragement with kind words and actions. Praise them for who they are and not outward looks (smiles, perseverance, ability to share)
- Goodness (sometimes interpreted as generosity): Sow seeds of politeness, character, and wise decision making. Show approval of their good actions and words. Discuss choices made and the consequences to guide them in future choices.
- Faithfulness: Sow seeds of prayer and reading God’s word. Take them to church and talk about faith and pray each day. Walk outside and praise God for creation. Thank God at meals, bedtime, and when prayers are answered.
- Gentleness: Sow seeds of compassion. Be compassionate over little hurts and scraps. Cultivate hearts with tenderness and relate their past hurts to seeing pictures or times when someone else is hurt.
- Self-control: sow seeds of discipline and set limits. Teach children healthy ways to release stress and negative emotions. Coach them to identify emotions and discover triggers that cause stress, like lack of sleep, dehydration, and not forgiving someone.
A little nurturing daily brings results over time.
What have you done to nurture the Fruit of the Spirit?
Thanks,