teaching what I'm learning

The Lord has put on my heart the fruit of the spirit as a theme for our family this year.  It was in part inspired by my sister-in-law (who has Galatians 5:22 plastered in various places all over their house), and also due to the fact that I sometimes found myself grasping for air when in a "teaching moment" with the girls.  I saw them reacting to one another with a lack of kindness, responding with impatience, not to mention my own quest to access the deep peace and joy that is promised to those who believe, as our family proceeds on a path that sometimes feels a little too dimly lit for my taste.  And then it hit me - we cannot muster up these fruits on our own strength, not with any longevity.  We may have momentary victories, but I want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that are not dependent upon mood or circumstance.  I want these qualities to define our household in spite of what might swirl around us in the near or distant future.   

 

It is said "you cannot teach what you have not learned" and I am loving the way that the Lord is speaking to my heart as I in turn "impress" it upon my children.  The simplicity of it is wonderful.  It is freeing.  When Jesus takes up residence in our hearts, through the sanctification process these fruit come along with Him.  We are being transformed into His likeness, and these fruits are evidence of His work in us.  I want our family to point others to Christ because of the way we treat one another and those we come into contact with.  But, here's the kicker - and the part that I am still very much in the process of learning.  We have to choose to exercise these fruits.  I have to choose, sometimes moment by moment, to be kind.  I have to choose patience with the 2-year old tantrums that characterize many of our days right now.  I have to respond with self-control when dinner is hot on the table and no one has listened to my call that it is ready.  I must love when they are unlovable, find joy in trials, allow peace to chase out fear.  I want to exemplify goodness, not just in my actions, but in my converted heart. I want to model faithfulness in my walk with the Lord, and I must respond in gentleness when it is the last thing I want to do.  I have a choice.  And I am modeling the ability we all have to make the right choice when the time comes.

The depth of the simplicity of it is wonderful to me - and I have already seen the practice of it paying off.  I have seen the girls choose kindness and gentleness.  And in the moments that we lack these fruits, it is wonderful to be able to point back to Jesus and remember that He is why we do these things, and why it is even possible.  I have long felt the call to make sure that my children are learning to ultimately obey Him as they learn to obey us, and this feels like somehow I am gently placing their hands directly into His, and allowing His spirit to prompt and guide and convict.   

And while I consider these fruits - anyone have any insight into why "humility" and "obedience" are not on this list??  Just curious.  I wish they were.  :)