The Fruit of the Spirit

Children's Sermon: The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

Look! What a beautiful bowl of fruit! Let's see what we have in here. Here's an apple, an orange, a bunch of grapes, strawberries, and a banana. What else can we find? Here is a peach, a pear, a plum, and a tangerine. What is this funny-looking fuzzy thing? Does anyone know? It is a kiwifruit.

I love fruit. Most fruit not only tastes good, but it is also good for you. Take this orange, for example, it is sweet and juicy and has a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps to prevent colds, runny noses, and sore throat. Here's a shiny, red apple. Apples are good for you too. I've always heard that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." When you are looking for something special to take to your favorite teacher, an apple is a good choice. Surely you have heard of "An apple for the teacher."

Our Bible lesson today is about fruit. No, we aren't talking about apples and oranges. It is about a different kind of fruit -- the fruit of the Spirit. We are talking about the way we act when we put our faith in Jesus, ask him to forgive us of our sins, and promise be his followers. The Bible tells us that when we do that, the Holy Spirit fills us with God's love and produces some good fruit in our life.

If you see an apple tree, what do you expect to find on that tree? Apples! Well, when you see someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit, you expect to see what the Bible calls the fruit of the Spirit. What is that? It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Oh my, that is some good fruit, isn't it?

Are you always patient? Are you always gentle and kind? No, there will be times when you fail. When you fail, ask God to forgive you and fill you with his Spirit so that you will produce the kind of fruit that he wants to see in your life.

Heavenly Father, fill us with your Spirit so that we will show the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.