Matthew 7:18-20 were received as a challenge, a sober challenge yet exciting too. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore they will be known by their fruit."
Yikes! That puts a new perspective on things in a blink. So if I want to be a good tree growing good fruit what does that look like? In a nut shell- Walking by the Spirit will produce...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control ( Galations 6:22-23).
I thought it might me a good time to actively and purposefully teach this to our children while I am learning too. Things are much easier to walk out when you are expecting others (ages 1 & 3) to do the same.
So a difficult process to live out has become a fun, new adventure when the kids are brought into it. Each week, we are picking one or two "fruits" to learn and work on. Wintertime puts a bit more difficulty into finding a variety of fruit but so far we are doing ok.
We began with Loving Lemon...
Kate LOVED the lemon with a face and throughout the week, if she made poor choices, we brought the conversation around to what Loving Lemon would choose to do instead. Kate totally got the concept...not that it was always the way she chose, but it certainly helped.
Loving Lemon was quickly joined by Obedient Orange (our version of self control) since Joseph was getting mighty jealous that his big sister was walking around the house with a cute piece of fruit.
They both are enjoying the fun invovled, plus they learning foundational principles that can be carried out through their lives. And it is super fun to think of all the crafts, delicious recipes, etc that can be incorporated into learning about Peaceful Pear, Kind Kiwi, Good Grape and the like!
