Kindness
Tuesday
John 15:1,4,51"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
4"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
If I am not connected to Jesus, I am not connected to our Father. If I am not connected to Jesus, there is no fruit. As a society we like to make a list of all we should, would and could do. We even restrict the Fruit in our lives to acts. Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that our fruit comes from a response of walking with the Spirit in our lives. I don't know when kindness became a to-do list. Kindness is a part of who we are.
Our Savior died so that we all may be saved. Every man, women and child that you get mad at, frustrated with and look down on deserves a relationship with Christ. Can you look them in the face and tell them they don't deserve your kindness? If you and I abide in our Savior, we will bare fruit. Our identity now lies with Christ. Kindness is now part of my Character. It is who I am. It is who you are. You are kind. Do not deny those that need the fruit of our Savior the most. Give it freely as it is freely given to you. Be intentional in your kindness and give it away.
Fruit Salad (Family Challenge)Have your oldest child write a list of the Fruit of the Spirit. If they need help have them look up Galatians 5.
Now, load up your car full of children and go to the local grocery story. In the produce section, take your list of "Fruit" and have your children alternate picking out the "Fruit". (ie say love, child picks out strawberries). Don't tell your children which fruit to pick unless someone has allergies.
This part requires more family participation and discussion: Have everyone help prepare a fruit salad. Find out why they chose the fruit they did. Show them how some need to be peeled, cut an apple in half, sideways, and show them the star in the middle. Make this a memory that will remind them of how beautiful the fruit of our lives can be.
Enjoy a great salad with your family. May the Fruit of your lives be abundant.
October 8, 2008 at 3:52 PM
I agree with your post. God has been gracious to us, believers of Christ, we should treat all people with kindness or grace. Luke 6:35 says "Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. Kindness should not be an apathetic response to sin, but a deliberate act to bring the sinner back to God. Thank you for your word today and for the fun family activity. Blessings
October 9, 2008 at 11:15 PM
I LOVE this idea for the kid's Bible Study fruit shopping - I've been wanting to do a fruit of the spirit study with them. THANK YOU!
October 11, 2008 at 9:41 PM
Thank you for your comments. I hope your fruit salads turn out wonderful.....