The Children's Chapel Award-winning site, featuring Bible stories from a variety of authors, excellent Christian resources for children, and over 140 links to other Christian and family-friendly sites for kids. ~ A Ministry of The Missing Link, Inc. ~ [picture of colorful fruit] Fruit of the Spirit [picture of colorful fruit] by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards "Bethany, there's a letter for you," Greg yelled as he entered the house, letting the screen door slam behind him. [picture of envelope] Bethany jumped up and down, clapping her hands joyfully. She had been waiting a l-o-n-g time for the letter from her grandmother to arrive. She carefully opened the envelope and peaked inside before removing the letter. Granny often enclosed small gifts and Bethany wanted to be sure she didn't lose anything. Bethany was never disappointed with Granny's letters, even if there wasn't a gift inside. She dearly loved her grandmother and looked forward to reading the funny stories Granny wrote about her farm animals. After reading the entire letter, Bethany folded it, placed it back in the envelope, then put it in her special box for safe keeping, along with her other treasures. [picture of fruit divider] [picture of cherries] Paul was a great missionary and Bible teacher. He was despised by most leaders in the Jewish temples because he preached that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and could forgive sins. Paul also taught that /everyone/ could love God and keep his commandments, which angered the leaders even more, because they thought that only Jewish people could worship the true God. Everywhere Paul went, the Jewish leaders caused trouble for him. He ended up in prison on more than one occasion for preaching about Jesus. [picture of grapes] Even though he was in a cold, dark dungeon, sometimes hungry, and sometimes even chained to his prison guards, Paul didn't waste his time sulking, griping, or complaining. He continued to preach to everyone who would listen, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and could forgive their sins. Even some of the meanest guards who had cruelly beaten him chose to become Christians because of Paul's preaching and the godly life he lived. [picture of apple] Day after day passed by, and Paul began thinking about the many friends he had made in so many different cities and countries throughout Europe and Asia. His friends in /Galatia/ had been especially kind to him when he was sick and he missed them very much. Not only had they shown kindness to Paul; they had also joyfully accepted his teachings about Jesus. Since it was impossible for him to visit his friends and there wasn't much to do in prison, he decided to write them a letter. [picture of Paul writing letters] [picture of pear] His letter started out pretty much the same as any other letter, with a greeting to his friends and wishing them well, but it certainly did not end up to be a normal, everyday letter! Paul was a preacher of the gospel of Christ and even in his letters he couldn't help preaching and teaching about Jesus. Paul had so much to say to his friends; he kept writing and writing. The letter grew longer and longer. When he was finally finished, the letter was so long; it had turned into a book with /six chapters!/ When Paul was satisfied that the letter contained everything he wanted to say to his friends, he sealed it carefully and found a messenger willing to travel to Galatia to deliver it. [picture of peach] His friends were excited to receive the letter and called together everyone they knew. They carefully read it over and over and tried their best to follow Paul's teachings about how to be like Jesus. They took very good care of the letter for it was very precious to them. [picture of cherries] In the fifth chapter of the letter, Paul wanted his friends to learn that people who are /Christians/ ? which means /followers of Jesus Christ/ ? have different characteristics than people who don't care about Jesus and don't want to live a godly life. Paul called these characteristics /fruit/, and explained that it is easy to tell which people love Jesus and which people don't because of the fruit they exhibit in their daily lives. [picture of grapes] He listed some of the fruit of an ungodly person, such as, lying, hatred, envy, drunkenness, murder, and many other evil characteristics. Then he listed the fruit of a person who follows the teachings of Jesus: *"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."* [picture of apple] The letter that Paul wrote to his dear friends in Galatia, almost 2000 years ago, was copied over and over and translated into many languages, including ours. You can even read this letter yourself! It is in the second part of your Bible, which is called the New Testament, and the letter is known as the Book of /Galatians/. What a privilege it is to have this treasure that has been passed down to us over the centuries! It is just as important for us to learn about the fruit of the Spirit and how to be like Jesus as it was for Paul's friends when they read the letter for the very first time. [picture of fruit divider] THINK! 1. Why was Paul in prison? 2. How did Paul spend his time in prison? 3. Where were Paul's friends? 4. What does it mean to be a Christian? 5. What is the fruit of the Spirit? 6. In what book of the Bible can the fruit of the Spirit be found? REMEMBER: The fruit of the Spirit are Christ-like characteristics that every Christian should have. A VERSE TO LEARN "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). PRACTICAL APPLICATION Do you like to receive letters and messages or cards from family and friends or people who care about you? What kind of letters do you like most and from whom? How about you? Do you like to send letters and messages or cards to the people you love? [After discussion:] God used Paul to write letters to believers because God and Paul both cared about them deeply. In another letter of Paul, he says that if you believe in Jesus and do the things He wants you to do, such as bearing the fruit of the Spirit, you become a living letter from Him, written on your heart, to the people all around you. Others read about Jesus when you do as Jesus would do. Would you like to be a living letter so others can read about the blessings and good things God gives? Ask God now and thank Him for it. LET'S PRAY [picture of Dog and boy praying] **************************************************** Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our greatest example of how to live. Thank You for Paul, who wrote many books of the Bible which tell us how to be more like Jesus. Help me become a living letter of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In Jesus' Name. Amen. **************************************************** CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE? Galatians 5:19-26 STORIES IN THIS SERIES: Love Joy Peace Longsuffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance BIBLE STORY ARCHIVE http://childrenschapel.org/bibstory2.html Copyright (c) 2011-2022 by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards You may NOT re-post this Bible story. However, you may freely link to it, provided visitors can see our web address when they click on the link. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Free Bible Stories! To receive a new Bible story each week, enter your e-mail address under "Subscribe..." at tscpulpitseries.cis.to/mailman/listinfo/stories You will be sent a message requesting confirmation of your subscription request. IMPORTANT! YOU MUST REPLY to this confirmation request to activate your subscription to this list. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2011-2022 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel North Central Ohio, U.S.A. TOP OF THE PAGE Webmaster Last updated September 19, 2022 Welcome! http://childrenschapel.org/welcome.html What's Here http://misslink.org/childin.html Bible Stories http://childrenschapel.org/bibstory2.html E-Mail Us online@misslink.org Around the Piano http://childrenschapel.org/pianokid.html 4 Things http://childrenschapel.org/fourkid.html Events http://childrenschapel.org/kidevent.html Children's Chapel http://childrenschapel.org Adult Chapel http://misslink.org/chapel2.html Missing Link http://misslink.org/index.html Links http://childrenschapel.org/kidlink.html Resources http://childrenschapel.org/resource.html