“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
PEACE, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22-23)
The apostle
Paul wrote to the people of the Christian church in Galatia about NINE good
things the Holy Spirit could bring about in their lives if they would allow Him
to direct their thoughts and actions. These words to the Galatians, in the
verse above, apply to us as well! In the
past couple of posts, we have looked at the love and joy that God can grow in
our spirits, and this week we will consider the fruit of PEACE.
When we know
that God is with us, we can be at peace in our spirits, no matter what is going
on in the world around us. When we are at peace, we do not give ourselves over
to being worried, afraid, stressed, or anxious. A sense of peace is a sense of
safety, which can sometimes be hard to hold onto without God’s help. We can be
at peace when we trust that God is in control, and will take care of us
according to His will and His plan.
Video
If you like
puppets, you might enjoy listening to Douglas explain the fruit of peace to
kids in this video message. (The first three minutes contain the content, while
the last minute or two are an invitation to visit Doug’s website.)
Craft
A bird
called a dove has been a symbol for peace for many centuries. It is also a
symbol for the Holy Spirit, which makes sense since God’s Holy Spirit can bring
about peace in our lives and in our hearts.
We are going to make a craft using
our hand to create a dove, and it can remind us that our peace is found in
Christ.
1. Trace around
your hand onto a piece of white paper, and then cut the shape out.
2. Glue it down
to a piece of colored construction paper.
3. Add a small triangle of yellow paper
for a beak, and draw in an eye with a pen.
4. You can add this Bible verse to the
dove if you would like: “Christ Himself is our peace.” (Ephesians 2:14)
(Many thanks
to LearnCreateLove.com for this craft idea, and to my daughter for the use of her hand for my craft pictured below.)
Song
Once you
start singing “I’ve Got Peace Like a River,” you’ll have a hard time stopping!
And—BONUS!—this song covers peace, love, and joy, which are the three
fruit of the Spirit we have learned about so far. Check out the video below,
and I know you’ll sing along!
Conversation:
Spend some
time talking, parent and child, about times when you feel worried or afraid.
Brainstorm together ways that you can both feel a greater sense of peace in
those times.
One great option is to pray and talk with God; whenever we feel
worried or afraid, we can ask God to make us more aware of His presence, and it
will give us a greater sense of peace.
Other ideas
for feeling a greater sense of peace when we are worried or afraid might
include: cuddling, going for a walk, reading a favorite Bible story (a good one
for such times is the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark chapter 4!), drawing
a picture or doing some form of art, singing songs, and spending quiet time
patting a family pet.
Consider making a list of all of your ideas and posting
it where the whole family can reference it when they need to.
(Many thanks
to Pinedale Christian Church for the idea for this conversation.)
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| Photo Credit: Susan Lowry Hare |
If you missed the earlier posts on fruit of the spirit, you can find them here:
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