The fruit of the Spirit is not a fruit that we eat, it's a fruit that grows inside of us! When we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us to make us more like him. This means that we start growing the fruit of the Spirit - fruit like love, joy and peace - which is the good fruit that God wants us to have in our lives. This fruit shows that we love God, and it helps us to show God's love to others. Let's check out one of the fruits of the Spirit now!
JOY
Joy isn't a happy feeling. Joy is choosing to be thankful and to praise God for all that he has done for us, even when things are going wrong. Let's check out a Bible story to help us understand more about the fruit of joy.
In this true story Paul and Silas are great examples of people who have the fruit of joy in their lives! They are having a really hard time. They have just been thrown into prison for talking to people about Jesus! How unfair! But they don't sit around feeling sorry for themselves. They aren't worried or afraid. They don't complain or get angry. Instead they pray to God for help and sing songs to praise God for all the wonderful things he has done for them! Because of their joyful singing, the jailer and his family saw God's love and came to hear about Jesus that night, and decided to follow him!
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What difficult situations have you been in recently? How did you react?
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What could you have praised and thanked God for in these situations?
God wants us to choose the fruit of joy when things go wrong for us too. Instead of getting upset when our plans get changed; or angry because our friend cannot come to play, we can pray to God for help and then choose to be thankful for all the good things God has done for us. Choosing to react this way means that even though things didn't happen in the way we wanted, we will feel happier for reacting with joy and it will help others too. When people see the fruit of joy in us they will want to have it too!
Dear Lord, Thank you that when I follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in me to grow lots of good fruit. Please help me to choose to be thankful, even when things go wrong, so that I can have the fruit of joy in my life. Thank you that if I do this I will feel happier, and others will be happier too. Amen.
