All saved Christians embody the Holy Spirit. He dwells in us. Our children need to understand that they are his host. Everything Jesus represents resides in our children and needs to be activated in their being. You can compare superheroes to Christ and the hero they morph into as the Holy Spirit. The hero that lives in Clark Kent is Superman, and the hero that resides in Wonder Woman is Diana Prince. Now, this is stretching it a bit; however, the Holy Spirit resides in us, and we must activate it by incorporating the characteristics of Christ into our personalities to manifest the character of Christ in our own lives.
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.
In the previous lesson, Armor First, I spoke briefly about the Fruit of the Spirit and named each but did not define them. How many of us read this scripture to our children but did not teach them how to become more like Christ? The question is, how do we share the power of these words with our children? We teach through defining and applying the Fruit of the Spirit in how we should live, act and think.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. – Galatians 5:22, 25, 26 NLT
As a Teen Bible Study teacher, I found that our kids were vulnerable. The world so easily tries to gobble up our young people through social media, and TV exposure is pervasive. Today, peer pressure is heightened through smartphone access. The outreach and exposure through these avenues are pervasive. Our children’s friends sometimes innocently entice our children and teens to join in ‘the fun,’ which can be immoral and sinful. In a world of ‘fake truths,’ it is difficult for them to know who they are and how to stand in the face of evil.
So back to Fruit of the Spirit. We need to teach our children that they belong to Jesus Christ and embody the Holy Spirit, and if they are going to emulate someone, it should be Christ and not blindly following the crowd. They need to understand that if they practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, they will succeed in life. The fruit will make them more robust in the Lord, and along with the Whole Armor of God, they will ward off the tricks and traps of the evil one.
What does this mean to you and your children? To begin, teaching your children the spiritual definition of the words increases their understanding of Jesus, his Disciples, and the men and women in the Bible. It provides them with a framework of what it is to be a good person and become more Christ-like. They need to know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). They are the children of our Almighty God.