Hey youngins, welcome back! As you may remember, when we last spoke, we were talking about the fruits of the spirit and what we look like in the eyes of God. To help us with discussion, we referred to the following scripture:
“But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23
Last week, we focused on the first two fruits of the spirit: Love & Joy. Today, we will be focusing on the next two fruits: Peace & Patience.
Can anyone tell me what they think peace means? How would you describe it? What do you think it would look like?
Peace, according to the bible, is the absence of conflict [problem], represented by wholeness [completeness], tranquility [calmness] and harmony [unity] with God and others. It is a representation of our right-standing relationship with God, which is reflected [mirrored] through one’s behavior. For example, when a person experiences emotions such as anxiety, fear, anger or sadness, they are not in a state of peace, because these emotions are causing conflict within the individual. What does this mean? When someone experiences negative emotions, it impacts [affects] their state of well-being, therefore, taking away their inner peace. On the flip side, when someone has true peace, no matter the conflict, their state of well-being, or their state of inner peace, does not change. For example, last week we spoke about being stuck in a storm. For those of you that have experienced this before, you know that storms can be very scary. The winds howl, thunder rumbles, and the pitter-patter of raindrops can sound like small boulders falling from the sky. It can be very overwhelming, causing fear and uncertainty of what is to come. These feelings of fear, anxiety and uncertainty can make it very hard for someone to sleep, let alone do anything else while the storm is still active. This is where true inner peace comes into play.
Someone who trusts in God, believes in Him and in His promises for good and not evil, has the ability to tune out the storm, allowing them to carry on with life. The storm becomes background noise, almost like a TV playing in the next room. It does not affect the person’s well-being nor does it have any impact on how they move throughout their day. It simply just is. They recognize they can’t change it, control it, or alter it, so they just continue living in a state of serenity [restfulness], until God either changes the circumstance or ends the storm.
What about patience? What do you think it means and how would you describe it to others?
The biblical meaning of patience is, the ability to face difficult situations, people or circumstances without giving into anger or giving up hope. It is a representation of one’s will power, not of forced endurance [tolerance]. In other words, patience is waiting on God, His timing and His will and doing it free of anger or resentment [bitterness]. This again can be tied into the example of a storm.
Have any of you ever been waiting to go somewhere? Maybe the park, the movies, a vacation? And suddenly, when the day FINALLY gets there, its storming outside, and you have to wait a little longer to be able to go on this long awaited adventure. Can’t it be super frustrating?! YOU ARE HUMAN!! Of course it can be frustrating! But what matters is how you handle the situation MOVING FORWARD. You can either choose to take that L gracefully and wait for God to come through in His perfect timing, or, you can pout about it like a brat…the choice is entirely up to you. (It’s all about will power.)
Living in agreement with the Holy Spirit is not for the faint of heart. However, when you choose to walk in God’s light, He will equip [prepare, provide] you with the things you need to be successful in your walk. How will you choose to walk in the ways of peace and patience today?
Interactive Activity: Divide the letters of “PEACE & PATIENCE” [& sign included] evenly amongst the group and encourage each child to design their assigned letter(s) to their liking. These letters will then be collected, stored away with last week letters (Love & Joy) and used at a later date for the creation of a “bigger picture” activity.
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