In this post, we will discuss practical ways of existing as a spirit living in a body in a physical world.
God is spirit and he made man to exist as spirit living in the body. The Bible makes it
clear to us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1Cor6:19 . Please refer
to previous posts to read about who the Holy Spirit is and how we can build intimacy
with Him.
Intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit is not for adults only, children can also
develop close friendship with the Holy Spirit. Refer to the e-book titled ‘Close friendship
with Holy Spirit for Children’ or request for a copy if you don’t have one, then support
your children to go through the activities in the book.
Since we cannot see the human spirit, the best way to be an example in spirit is by
demonstrating the fruit of our Holy spirit influenced spirit. This post is to share
examples, so let’s begin by looking at the dimensions of the Holy Spirit that we can
relate to in our physical world. The fruit of the Spirit are essential for us as Christians,
it shows that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
Activity
Children < 6yrs: Ensure that they know the nine elements of the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23
Explain why it is fruit and not fruits. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and all the fruit and
gifts of the Holy Spirit are all in one Holy Spirit. It is not possible to have love and not
have goodness. However, it is possible to have developed kindness but still have to
do more work to develop self-control.
Older children: You can make a tree and branches out of pipe cleaners. Then write
out each element of the fruit of the Spirit on a strip of paper. Each time a child
demonstrates love, ask him/her to hang that strip on the tree. At the end of the week,
see how fruitful or bare the tree is and give a reward for fruitfulness.
Alternatively, on a Jesus thumbs up chart, your older children can have an additional
column where they write down what element of the fruit of the Spirit was expressed
strongly each day. A sample of the chart is available as an appendix of the e book
recommended above.
As a family, help each other (without being judgemental) to identify what elements
each person already expresses abundantly and which ones they need to improve on.
Highlight ways for improvement and pray together asking for the help of the Holy
Spirit.
For example, one child may show kindness by helping his/her siblings to fill their
water bottle every morning while another child may demonstrate patience whenever
mum is busy cooking and can not immediately support home learning as planned.
A father may self-control when a child consistently behaves in a way that could
provoke anger and shouting. As a family, you may find it easy to show gentleness
even when neighbours are noisy and annoying.
Celebrate and applaud one another for the elements you have developed so well
and then prayerfully support one another to develop areas where you need
improvement.
Prayer circle: Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit dwells in us and we have fruit and
gifts of the Spirit. Help us to manifest the fruit and gifts as children of God should in
Jesus name.
Raising Godly Children 