God's Story: The Fruit of the Spirit
So part of God's story is about the fruit of the Spirit, and it goes like this.
A guy named Paul wrote a letter to a group of people who were trying to follow Jesus,
but they weren't treating each other the way Jesus would have.
They ended up getting into silly arguments,
kicking people out of their group for no good reason, and even losing faith in God.
In the letter, which we now call the book of Galatians in the Bible,
Paul reminded them to be more like Jesus, more like God, more like the Holy Spirit.
Paul said, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control."
When Paul talked about fruit, he didn't mean people who follow Jesus should look
for grapes or pineapples growing from their elbows.
Instead, Paul meant that as we grow in our faith,
we can let the Holy Spirit transform us to be more like Jesus.
That's what Paul meant by fruit.
Jesus said that a person who follows God is like a tree growing fruit.
Jesus said, "Every good tree bears good fruit."
You can tell each tree by its fruit.
You can tell a tree is an apple tree if there are a bunch of apples growing on it.
And an apple might taste good, but it's also good for you.
It can help your body stay healthy.
In the same way the longer a person follows Jesus, the more they will think, talk and act like Jesus.
That's because they have more fruit.
It's good to think, talk and act like Jesus.
And it's also good for us.
It can help us stay healthy in our relationships with God and other people.
And this fruit is also good for planting faith in others.
Just like God has planted seeds of faith in us that can grow and bear fruit,
our faith and good works can grow and bear fruit in the lives of people we know.
When we tell others about Jesus, when we serve
and when we're generous, it's like one fruit producing many seeds.
Now, it can take a long time for a tree to grow fruit.
It needs a lot of things like sunshine and water and nutrients.
But really it's God who makes it all work together.
In the same way, the fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives if we are working together with God.
He can make us more patient and kind, but we can also decide to be more patient and kind.
God can give us the ability to have more self-control,
but we can also decide to have more self-control.
The best example of the fruit of the Spirit was Jesus.
Jesus was always faithful, and he showed God's love patience and kindness to everyone.
And because of him, we can all share in God's joy peace and goodness.
So when you remember to love other people the way Jesus loves you, that's the fruit of the Spirit.
When you feel joy and peace, even when something confusing or sad happens,
that's the fruit of the Spirit.
When you are kind to people, when you do good and when you show gentleness,
that's the fruit of the Spirit.
And when you are faithful to God's ways and have self-control, that's also the fruit of the Spirit.
Now, it's not always easy to show love or patience or self-control, but it is always good.
Remember Paul's letter.
Paul also wrote, "Let us not become tired of doing good."
At the right time, we will gather a crop if we don't give up.
So when we can do good to everyone, let us do it.
Paul was basically saying the more we have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
gentleness, faithfulness and self-control, the more we all will become more like Jesus.
And that's the story of the fruit of the Spirit.
So in case you missed it, here's the quick version.
The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
The fruit of the Spirit is good for us.
God makes it grow.
We have more fruit the more we follow Jesus.
And that's a part of God's story.