Building Character – Joy
Galatians 5:22 “But the Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL”
Ok gang, We’ve already covered the first Fruit of the Spirit – LOVE. Remember, our children have to be “rooted and grounded in LOVE” (Ephesians 3:17-18). The NLT says it like this, “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s LOVE and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is”. With God’s LOVE firmly established in our precious little warriors of God, there will be the beginning of a sprouting that stems from that unfathomable LOVE of their Father and JOY begins to emerge! When we truly experience the aquaintancey of THE LOVE OF JESUS, there will rise up an unspeakable joy! A joy that comes from within….I’m not talking about a “happy feeling”, that is a natural emotion…I’m talking about a supernatural, spirit filled place in God! Now, how do we instill this into our children on a daily basis?? It STARTS with YOU! YES, all the responsibility rests on you mom and dad! Don’t freak out on me here…..just follow me…. God has given you HIS most precious possession – one of HIS CHILDREN- to love, nurture, and build up for His plan and His purpose in the earth. Parents, DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY!! There is NO GREATER ministry and responsibility than our children!! Amen and Amen to that!! We will answer to God our Father for how we “trained up our children” (Proverbs 22:6)! (Please let me say here, if you didn’t have a relationship with Christ and the knowledge of this while raising your children ….It is never too late to live the example of Christ before your children! God can redeem the time!). If you carry the LOVE of God…then there will emulate this deep JOY of God from YOU! You have to know and experience God first!! You, your home and your family will permeate the atmosphere with joy wherever you go! Wait, I think I’ve heard that before….Yep, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “REPEAT them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” Now, I am not saying that when you make Jesus the center of your life and your home it’s all flowers and rainbows and angelic hosts singing in the atmosphere…because IT WON’T BE! Sorry if I busted your Hollywood Fairy tale bubble! There will be times (plenty of times) where life is less than joyful…and we all that have children can attest to that! The point I’m driving home here is to get yourself rooted in the Love of God (because your children will follow) and from there you will begin to see the start of the development of “The Fruit of the Spirit”….JOY will be your sweet companion. It just naturally, I mean supernaturally begins to pop up in all areas of your life! Your joy will be a written epistle to men!! SELAH
