"By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit."
Galatians 5:22-25 -- NRSV
How do we incorporate these fruits into our daily life? Which is easiest to practice? What does it mean to live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit? What are we being asked to do in these verses? Are we actually doing it?
These are the questions our youth wrestled with on Sunday night at PYC. Our high schoolers made a great analogy: We "live" by the Spirit in the same way that we live by food...it sustains us, gives us energy, makes us well. We are guided by the Spirit in that we are taught how to relate with others, the Spirit guides our words and actions so that we might live peaceably with one another. Our middle schoolers talked about how it is so easy to do all of these with people that we know and love. It is much more difficult to show these fruits when we don't like someone or don't want to be around them. We sometimes don't want to be guided by the Spirit...but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
After discussion, two groups of high schoolers and two groups of middle schoolers created paper "fruits" to be used in a challenge. Each team had to get their entire team from the "Church" on one side of the youth center out into the "World" on the other side of the youth center standing only the Fruits of the Spirit. The group had 2 less fruits than they had people. They had to be stepping on a fruit at all times or it was taken away.
Amid the cheering, chanting, clapping, and squealing of this challenge, many connections to the real world were made. The groups worked together and made many analogies to the real world. When the fruits were too far apart to take a step, they reached out a hand and supported one another on the long leap. The youth had to constantly pay attention to the ones behind and in front of them before taking a step. making sure their teammates had the fruits underfoot before moving ahead. The high schoolers were first to take on the challenge. The middle schoolers watched intently and cheered for the high schoolers as they finished and got all team members across the finish line. When the middle schoolers began, they did it in the exact same way as the high schoolers. There were many ways to accomplish this challenge, but the younger ones took every cue from our older youth, such as in life.
Our youth learned that relying only on the Fruits of the Spirit would be nearly impossible: They must rely on each other as well. The gifts of the Fruits of the Spirit are only relevant as we live in community with one another and mean very little if practiced alone. Our youth are actively striving to be guided by the Spirit; to see God working in their lives and in the lives of their friends.
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We fins ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." - The Message
Galatians 5:22-25 -- NRSV
How do we incorporate these fruits into our daily life? Which is easiest to practice? What does it mean to live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit? What are we being asked to do in these verses? Are we actually doing it?
These are the questions our youth wrestled with on Sunday night at PYC. Our high schoolers made a great analogy: We "live" by the Spirit in the same way that we live by food...it sustains us, gives us energy, makes us well. We are guided by the Spirit in that we are taught how to relate with others, the Spirit guides our words and actions so that we might live peaceably with one another. Our middle schoolers talked about how it is so easy to do all of these with people that we know and love. It is much more difficult to show these fruits when we don't like someone or don't want to be around them. We sometimes don't want to be guided by the Spirit...but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
After discussion, two groups of high schoolers and two groups of middle schoolers created paper "fruits" to be used in a challenge. Each team had to get their entire team from the "Church" on one side of the youth center out into the "World" on the other side of the youth center standing only the Fruits of the Spirit. The group had 2 less fruits than they had people. They had to be stepping on a fruit at all times or it was taken away.
Amid the cheering, chanting, clapping, and squealing of this challenge, many connections to the real world were made. The groups worked together and made many analogies to the real world. When the fruits were too far apart to take a step, they reached out a hand and supported one another on the long leap. The youth had to constantly pay attention to the ones behind and in front of them before taking a step. making sure their teammates had the fruits underfoot before moving ahead. The high schoolers were first to take on the challenge. The middle schoolers watched intently and cheered for the high schoolers as they finished and got all team members across the finish line. When the middle schoolers began, they did it in the exact same way as the high schoolers. There were many ways to accomplish this challenge, but the younger ones took every cue from our older youth, such as in life.
Our youth learned that relying only on the Fruits of the Spirit would be nearly impossible: They must rely on each other as well. The gifts of the Fruits of the Spirit are only relevant as we live in community with one another and mean very little if practiced alone. Our youth are actively striving to be guided by the Spirit; to see God working in their lives and in the lives of their friends.
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We fins ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." - The Message
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