Creation and a Biblical Worldview

This week we talked about creation, and how God made everything in 7 literal days. I think this is one of the most important lessons we can teach our children. The world wants to teach them the earth is millions and millions of years old, and that we evolved from primordial goo; however, the bible teaches something radically different, creation. If we do not teach a literal creation to our children from a very young age we will run into some serious problems later on, problems with the gospel! Ours position may be one the world laughs at as ignorant the truth is it stands up under scrutiny far better than Darwinian theory mix-mashed into Christianity or Darwinian theory alone. Teaching our children about creation is the very first step in helping them develop a biblical worldview.

Having a biblical world view means that we know Christianity is not something we do on Sunday, instead it permeate every aspect of our lives. As Christians we should be completely committed to everything the bible teaches, our lives should stand as living testimonies to the implications of scriptures. Our children are not blind, even though a four year old may not notice inconsistencies in what they are taught, rest assured a sixteen year old will. That is why we must not go on auto pilot when it come to teaching things like creation, this is a foundational issue that the Christian community has been willing to be silent on for fear of sounding scientifically ignorant. We must show our children that the bible says what it mean and means what it says. There are gospel implications to creation, the book of Romans in particular emphasizes this point. If the creation account is not historical and is allegory as some say, then how can Christ be a second Adam able to redeem us from the curse of sin? The public school system teaches evolution as a fact, if we do not teach our children otherwise they will believe what “science” teaches and fall away from the faith. If you are not a creation buff and need help Answers in Genesis and Institute for Creation Research have great recourses to help you teach your children about creation.

In addition to regular devotional times, times of discipline provided an excellent opportunity to talk with your child about being a created being. After my children disobey I always ask them, “Who made you?” Matthew our middle son often becomes a practical atheist at this point saying, “no one!” Even children realize that being created by someone else, means that they are responsible before their creator to follow his commands. When Matthew finally gives me the right answer, that God created him, I follow up with “Who created mommy?” He will say in the sweetest three year old voice, “God.” Them we talk about Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” I may then ask, “who put mommy in charge?” He will tell me “God.” I usually ask him if he disobeys mommy, who is he really disobeying? Then he can see that disobeying mommy is disobedience to God. This is a very small thing that we do, but it helps build a worldview, one in which my children are created beings made in the image of the living God. This helps them see their position before Him, and their need for a savior.

There is more to a Christian or Biblical world view than just understanding a the importance of creation, but as I said it is foundational and cannot be taken lightly!

Lesson (this one was super simple!):

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

 On day one God separated the light from darkness. On day two God separated the water above from the water above, he made the sky and the water. On day three God made dry land and plants. On day four God made the sun, moon and Stars. On day five God made the all the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea. On Day six He made animals and man. At the end of each day God looked at what he had made, and declared that it was good! Then on the seventh day God rested.

Because God made everything, He alone has the right to rule over His creation!

While the lesson is ridiculously easy, it is full of implications that the world really doesn’t like, primarily the liability implied by the existence of a creator. Our kids will face fierce opposition from the world, if we do not start young and work to have an understanding of young earth apologetics we will find ourselves unequipped to teach them. Please don’t let this short lesson be the end of your discussion on creation, let it be the beginning of something much bigger. If they ask questions you  don’t know how to answer, be honest, but don’t stop there work to find the answers if possible.

I hope this has been helpful and encouraging as you labor to lead your children to the cross!

Being Content with Humble Service

This past week we taught the kids at church about the fruit of the Spirit of self-control, in my post to parents I talked about how self-control is all about motivation. If I am motivated to control myself for any reason other than God’s glory than I am not really exercising self-control, instead I am being controlled by my desire for something else. This was kind of a shot through the heart for me, as I realized that I was struggling with a heart that had become motivated more by the praise of man than a pursuit of God’s glory. I may be wrong, but I don’t think I am alone in this struggle.

Somewhere I lost sight of what God calls me to, instead of resting in the work of Jesus, and faithfully pursuing ministry trusting God to do something with it; I started to function as though I was the one who would make it beneficial to others. I lost sight of the fact that I may be able to speak rather eloquently (I really don’t think that I do all to often), but if God’s not working in the hearts of the hearer than nothing will come of my efforts. At the same time I may communicate poorly, and God work through that anyway and people will be encouraged or convicted. The point is that I am to work faithfully and trust God to do something worthwhile with my efforts. I have to be alright with not realizing the fruit of my labor, knowing that any fruit that comes was really the work of the Lord.  

As a mom I know that the same struggle happens in the home, we work really hard doing things that generally go unnoticed by others. No one wonders how the dirty clothes got washed, dried, folded, and put away or how the pee covered toilet was magically cleaned (I have boys, there is no safe bathroom in our house without my diligent effort)! Even more as moms and dads we are sinned against so frequently by those we work the hardest to serve. It is so easy to lose sight of the One that we are truly laboring for, and the reality that He is the one who will make something of our efforts. 

This past weekend was one filled with prayerful repentance as I thought about the ugly truth, Jesus condemned the pious acts of the Pharisees, because they were done for the eyes of man and not the glory of God; He said that they had already received their reward. I am so thankful to serve a God who sees every act service and knows every motivation of my heart, and that He so gently showed me my sin. It is my hope that this reminder will help encourage you to be content with  whatever humble service God has called you to; no one else may notice your effort, but He does and your reward is in heaven!

Fruit of The Spirit: Self- Control

This week we continued teaching the kids about the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23, focusing on self-control. Today we kept our lesson brief, though this is a lesson that could easily be quite long. We could have gone deeper in defining self-control, but it would have been information over load for the kids, so we kept it simple.

By the very nature of the words it is easy to think that self-control has everything to do with me and my will power, but then why would it on a list of the fruit of the Spirit? It is very important that we understand the relationship between self control and the Holy Spirit; if I am motivated to respond in a situation by anything other than a desire to see God glorified than it is not the fruit of Spirit. Instead of being motivated by a love of God I may be motivated by any number of things such as a desire for people to see me as good; I want the world may look at me and see me as clean, but God can see my heart and He is not fooled for a moment.

Self-control requires work on two fronts, first in our pursuit of God and second in our fight against sin, primarily selfishness. Hebrews 12:1-3 paints a beautiful picture of what Spirit enabled self-control looks like, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Life can be busy with kids, friends, work, and even church activities; It is easy to stay so busy that we have little left to give to God. However, the author of Hebrews is reminding us of the discipline demanded of one who would run in a race; an athlete in training would structure their life around the demands of training. They are willing to give up almost anything to win the prize, and in the end their prize will fade away. Those who run the race of faith do so for an imperishable prize, how much greater is our motivation to pursue holiness? Our discipline, our endurance, our self-control also have an impact on those who observe our lives; others look on and are encouraged to push on toward the goal of righteousness. Our race takes us further from sin making us more useful in ministry, and bringing us closer to God; however, it is only when our gaze is fixed firmly on the one who paid our ransom that this kind of self-control is possible.

Jesus endured more than we can even comprehend when He stepped off His thrown, and lived as a man. He love those who hated Him, and as the sinners he came to save led him to the spot where they would kill Him He never faltered in His obedience to the Father. He could have commanded legions of angles to reign down heavens fury, but instead he took the wrath intended for all who would repent and trust in Him. There was no fanfare, few mourned the loss, but God was greatly glorified! This is the example we are to follow, we are to put God’s glory before all else, this is the fruit of the Spirit self-control!

Lesson: Remember that we have been talking about the fruit of the spirit, which are words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So this week we are going to talk a little about self-control.

Self-control is the ability to control yourself, and not to be ruled by your desires. Sometimes things that are not sinful can get in the way of our pursuit of our relationship with God, a person who has the fruit of self-control will turn from these none sinful activities because they are slowing down their spiritual growth. Watching television is not sinful, but if you watch too much you will not have time to serve God or grow in your relationship with Him.

Self-control grows only through our Spirit aided effort; without God working in us we can’t do it, and without us doing the work it won’t happen. 

 The writer of the book of Hebrews uses the example of training for a race to explain what the fruit self-control looks like. When people train for a race they have to work hard to get faster; each time they run they must push themselves harder than the time before if they hope to improve. Runners also have to avoid certain kinds of foods, not because they are bad, but because they are not the proper food for a runner in training, eating the wrong food will slow them down. That is how followers of Christ are to live; they are to push hard to serve God, and they must turn from activities that will slow them down instead devoting time to Bible study, which will fuel them in the efforts!

 Review:

• What is the Fruit of the Spirit? (Things or words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit)
• What does it mean to be self-controlled? (It means that you are able to control yourself, and not be controlled by your desires)
• What is the purpose of self-control? (To help us grow spiritually)
• What activity did we talk about that is not sinful, but could stand in the way of growth in our relationship with God? (Television)
• What was the example from the Bible did we uses to help us understand what self-control looks like? (A runner training for a race)
• Why is a runner a good example? (Because they are always pushing to run faster, and they have to avoid things in life that will slow them down)
• What must followers of Christ work hard to do? (Grow in our relationship with God).

As you can see there is more to self-control than I can possible put in one 3 minute children’s church lesson or even in one short blog post, which is why it is so important to continue the conversation at home. It takes time and effort to teach these truths to our kids; I’m 31 and it’s still hard for me to grasp the depth of God word!

I hope this has touched your heart, and encouraged you as you labor to lead your child to the cross!

I would love to hear your feed back on the lesson or children’s discipleship in general!

Fruit of The Spirit: Gentleness

This week we continued teaching the kids at our church about the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23, focusing on gentleness. This was a difficult lesson to write, because defining gentleness in a biblical way that kids can understand was a challenge. Gentleness is a response to circumstances motivated by our understanding of who we are and who God is, and is deeply rooted in our understanding of God’s goodness and His involvement in our lives. People who are gentle may appear weak; because they do not fight back when they are sinned against; however, gentleness is a demonstration of strength rather than weakness. Gentle people know that the sin committed against them was first committed against God; they are not concerned with their own honor, but the honor of God. They know that responding to sin in sin is never justified, and they will seek to bring reconciliation between their offender and God if possible. I encourage you to share  practical examples of gentleness with your kids it’s a great way to help them understand this challenging concept.

Lesson: Remember that we have been talking about the fruit of the spirit, which are words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So this week we are going to talk a little about gentleness.

 A person who displays the fruit of gentleness trusts in God, they know the limits of their understanding and the limitless wisdom of God. When things in life do not go the way they would like, they do not respond in anger, instead they remain clam and loving to those around to them, and they seek to honor God. Someone who is gentle does not think more of themselves then they should. Sometimes gentleness is translated meekness or humility.

 We serve a gentle God; He has given us His word so that we can know Him, and He has sent his Spirit to live in His people so that they have the ability to do what His word commands. You see He created all things, and has the right to demand that we do things His way; however, He is patient with us when we fail to obey. God sees every way that we have sinned against him, but instead of punishing us right now he offers us forgiveness and life if we will turn from sin to him. He could be mean and angry because that is what we deserve, but instead he is gentle and kind offering forgiveness to all who would turn to him!

 Review:

• What is the Fruit of the Spirit? (Things or words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit)
• What are other words for gentleness? (Humility or meekness)
• What does gentleness mean? (To understand your limitations and to understand the limitless wisdom of God.)
• When someone is gentle how do they respond to difficulty? (They remain calm, and loving to those around them, even when others are being mean, and seek to honor God.)
• Is our God harsh or gentle? (Gentle)
• What makes God gentle? (He could punish us immediately when we sin, but instead he is patient and continually offers us forgiveness if we will turn from our sin. We deserve His anger, but instead He is gentle and kind offering us forgiveness.)

There is so much application for both parents and kids. As a mom I think about how the I respond to my kids in those chaotic moments when all three boys are fighting or fussing. I am not gentle, in fact I can be down right mean, especially when they don’t respond the way I think they should. I think about how they respond to one another, when one refuses to share. Gentleness is just not natural to fallen humanity, because we are prideful we are quick to react when we feel our needs are not being met or our rights are being violated. However, this is contrary to the call to consider others as more important than ourselves (Phil 2:3).

We serve a gentle God, He does not yell or hurt us when we refuse to obey his commands instead he is patient in His compassion. When I think about how blind I was to my sin prior to salvation, I am shocked at how gentle God was in revealing it to me and that gentleness actually worked. I really thought I was a good person, after all I was a Christian (I wasn’t, I just thought I was), I thought I could earn God’s grace through good deeds, which in essences makes the cross unnecessary. However, God sent people into my life who shared truth with me, and slowly and gently he lead me to a place where I could see my situation for what it was, I was a sinner saved or rather needed saving by grace, grace I could never come close to earning. He then gave me a gentleness with my husband as He worked on my husbands heart and He came to a saving faith. As we teach our children about God we must remember that He will do the heavy lifting of changing their hearts, He calls us to love others by sharing the truth of His word. It doesn’t mean we aren’t firm on issues of doctrine, but that we respond to opposition knowing that only God can move the heart of man!

I hope that this has been helpful and encouraging as your labor to lead your children to the cross!

I would love to hear your comments and feed back!

We Ditched The Time Out Chair For A Mercy Seat

I thought this was a great post, the one note I would add is that our sins are only paid for when we repent and trust in Jesus. I cannot with any certainty know when my children have truly come to that point, but that is why teaching our kids about mercy is so important! It is God’s kindness, His mercy that leads us to repentance. I am often guilty of failing to minister in this way to my children; I am so thankful for the mercy God has shown to me!

I hope this is helpful and encouraging as you lead your children to the cross!

motherofknights

The shoppers shifted from leg to leg as they waited to buy ink cartridges and memo pads. The large warehouse was a cool retreat from the burning sun outside and customers walked the aisles looking for last minute school binders, pencil sharpeners, and calculators. Typically, a store like this is being piped with elevator music, pleasant enough to keep the shoppers inside, likely to buy more products.

But not that day. A very disturbing sound echoed through the store.

The mother pushed the rusty metal shopping cart up and down the aisles. The young little girl sat, eyes looking downward. It was obvious that this was a common experience for her.  The raucous was so deafening, it took a few minutes for the shoppers to register what in the world was happening.

And yet the girl simply sat there, her mother spewing, loudly, a litany of faults and putdowns. Up the…

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Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

This week we continued teaching the kids about the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23, focusing on faithfulness. Faithfulness means to be unchanging; God is faithful to his promises, because he is unchanging in His nature and character. Our reactions to life circumstances do not change God, He continues to faithfully work in our lives regardless of whether we respond rightly or not. As fallen people we are naturally unfaithful, we change and adapt to situations always looking to protect our best interest, but as redeemed children of God we can become faithful as we seek to glorify him regardless of the consequences. The fruit of faithfulness will reveal itself differently depending on the stage of life you are in, for a parent it may mean that you grow in your ability to respond in love despite continued opposition and for a kid it can mean standing up for what is right even if it means painful social consequences, but regardless of where we are in life, as we grow in our relationship with Christ we will grow in our ability to respond faithfully to difficult circumstances.

Lesson: Remember that we have been talking about the fruit of the spirit, which are words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So this week we are going to talk a little about faithfulness.

 Faithfulness means to be unchanging. God is the only one who is truly unchanging; He is the same today as He will be tomorrow. He never breaks His promises, which is a comfort to those who love him and have repented of their sin and trust in Jesus, but it ought to frighten all who refuse to turn from their sin despite the strong warnings found in scripture. As we grow in our relationship with Christ we will become more in more faithful, that is we will be able to live our lives in obedience regardless of the outcome.

 Daniel was faithful; he was taken from his family around age thirteen as a captive of Babylon. He loved God, and knew Gods laws; knowing that if he ate the kings food he would be sinning against God, Daniel asked the guards if he would be allowed to eat only vegetables and water. The guard could have killed Daniel just for making the request; however, Daniel cared more about God’s honor than his own life, he was faithful, unchanged, even when his life was put in danger. God gave Daniel favor with the guard, and he and his friends were allowed to eat only the vegetables and drink water.

 Daniel could have been changed by his situation; he was a very young man when he was taken from his family, but instead he was faithful. He is a wonderful example to us; he wasn’t faithful because he was so good, but because he had a strong relationship with God which produced the the fruit faithfulness in his life.

Review:

• What is the Fruit of the Spirit? (Things or words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit)
• What does it mean to be faithful? (To be unchanging)
• Who is the only person who is truly faithful? (God)
• Why is God faithful? (Because he never changes, he is the same today as He will be tomorrow)
• How can we become faithful? (Grow in our relationship with Jesus)
• Why was Daniel faithful? (Daniel didn’t let his life being in danger change him)

As always it is my hope that as you work with your children, laboring to teach them about spiritual things, that you will be impacted by the scripture. As I thought about the fruit of faithfulness, my heart was heavy.  I could not help by consider whether I am faithful or not, and was confronted with the hard reality that I am far from where I want to be in my walk with the Lord. Being faithful means turning from pure reaction to thoughtful action. Let me clarify what I mean, instead of reacting in anger or fear to a situation I must be motivated to act by a heart that deeply understands not only my own sin and need for forgiveness but by the character and nature of God. I know I fail at this so frequently, and I am so thankful that I serve a God who will forgive me and help me in my struggle. I cannot, on my own, make myself more faithful, instead I can participate in the sanctifying process by God’s grace turning from the sin that hinders the growth of spiritual fruit, and praying for Him to work in my heart that I may become more faithful.

When we find that we are not where we want to be with regards to fruitfulness we have two choices: we can either wallow in self-pity, which yields no change or we can go to God and ask for His help to see the sin that we need to turn from, to understand Him and His word, and then to produce good fruit in our lives that He MAY BE GLORIFIED!! Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” It’s important to remember if we seek to turn from sin and grow spiritually for any other reason than to see Him glorified we will find little success for God will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). We must do all for His glory alone!

I hope this has been helpful and encouraging as you labor to lead your children to the cross!

The Temptation of Pragmatism in Parenting and The Fruit of the Spirit

This week we worked with the kids at our church on reviewing the fruit of the Spirit that we have covered over the past few weeks: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness. As I reviewed this list trying to condense it down to one lesson, I thought about how non-pragmatic the gospel is. I thought about the tactics I try to employ to get my children to do what I want them to, and how contrary those tactics are to the list of characteristics found in Galatians 5. 

So often in the church you hear that people do things in gospel presentations, in church organizations, and in various programs because they see the results they want, they are just being pragmatic not necessarily gospel focused. Watering down the gospel may make it more palatable to people, but it will rob it of it’s power to save lost souls. As a parent I have found that I fall into the same trap that I criticize others for falling into, I am tempted to be pragmatic. Lest you think you haven’t fallen into the same temptation let me ask, have you every raised your voice at your children or given that look that says “you are in for it”? I know why I raise my voice or get a scary look on my face, it is because I know that it will get me what I want in that moment even if it will not get me what I want long term.  We all fall into the temptation of pragmatic parenting, because we want results and we don’t want to be seen as weak, get taken advantage of by our children, other parents to think we can’t control our children, and perhaps we are frightened that grace won’t work and our children will be lost. I know that at one time or another each of these things has dictated how I respond to my children when disciplining them. However, the gospel calls us to a different kind of parenting, one in which God does the hard work of lasting change and we do the challenging task of faithful obedience to Him. 

When I take a step back and realize that all the pragmatic behavior modification in the world will not bring my child closer to God than I have to face the hard reality that it is God’s love that will save my child not my pragmatism. Because of the stage of life I am in and the age of my children (particularly my eldest, he is 8) I am finding this an increasingly difficult reality. Our son has made a profession of faith; however, there are huge areas of weakness which cause me to have serious doubts about the legitimacy of his profession. Studying the fruit of the fruit of the Spirit has challenged me to carefully consider the way that my husband and I discipline him. Our son’s sin is often the heat that brings the deeds of my flesh to the surface, particularly outbursts of anger. I may very well be angry over sin, but I am angry over sin committed against me not God. My anger, which is often motivated by a fear that this kid is never going to “get it,” is driven by a lack of trust in God. I pragmatically walk in the flesh when I use emotional manipulation to get my child to behave the way I want him to, because I don’t trust God to work through grace or because I don’t see God working right now to accomplish what I want accomplished. 

In essence studying the fruit of the Spirit has shown me a glaring area where I am baron, at times I see some blossoms of fruit and others I watch the blossom wither away. Which brings me to this, I am glad that my son shows me the sin in his life instead of practicing his own form of pragmatism. His pragmatism would look like compliance, obeying mom and dad secretly resenting our authority and counting down the days until he is free to live as he pleases all to avoid the aggravation of discipline. I know many parents whose compliant children left their home only to discover that they never really knew the Lord; they obeyed just to get mom and dad off their back. While the pragmatic part of me wants an easy 1-2-3 guide to a life, so that I can have an 8 year old who is soundly saved and clearly bearing fruit, I know that the way things are provides me with great benefit. God’s design for my life not only gives me an opportunity to minister effectively to the heart of a child in need of grace, it shows me areas of my heart I would never see other wise. God is showing me my need to trust Him more with every area of my life, and he is showing me my need for grace. Seeing these needs continually gives me compassion for my son, and leads me to repent when I get sinfully angry over his sin. 

I hope as you study the Bible with your children your are taking the time to meditate on what you’re teaching them, and that they are not the only ones changed. 

The following is a brief review of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness. 

Lesson: Remember that we have been talking about the fruit of the spirit, which are words that describes people who have the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So this week we are going review all that we have learned so far.

 What do you remember about love? Love is more than just a feeling it has a lot to do with our actions as well. If we love something we will to work to show that love; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 lists each of these actions. 

Love is…

• Patient- suffers for others calmly and without complaint
• Kind- helpful to others
• Not Jealous- does not want to take something good away from someone else
• It does not brag- or talk about how good you are at something
• It is not arrogant or proud- to think that you are better than others
• It does not act unbecomingly- it is not rude or hateful to others
• It does not seek its own- try to get its own way
• It is not provoked- does not get angry easily
• Does not take into account a wrong suffered- It forgets the past
• Does not rejoice in unrighteousness- It is sad over sin
• Rejoices in truth- It loves the truth/God’s word
• Believes all things- It believes the words of others
• Hopes all things- It hopes for the best
• It endures- continues in all these actions even when being treated poorly
• Love never fails

 What do you remember about Joy? Joy is what we feel in our heart when we think about God’s love for us; he showed us his love by sending Jesus to pay for our sin on the cross. People with Holy Spirit living in them can have joy no matter how difficult things in their life are, because they know that God loves them. They know that God is using their circumstances to teach them to be more like Jesus, and that one day Jesus is retuning to take them to heaven.

 What do you remember about peace?  Followers of Christ will be calm in their hearts even when they face bad situations, because they trust in God’s plan.

What do you remember about patience? It means to suffer or wait on something we desire for a long time without complaint while continuing to honor God; people who have the Holy Spirit are willing to suffer through difficult situations without grumbling against God or the people who brought their suffering.

 What do you remember about kindness? Kindness is an ability to see what a person needs without them asking, and then working to providing for their need. In order to be kind you have to focus on other people instead of yourself.

 What do you remember about Goodness? Goodness is working for the benefit of others instead of for our own benefit

Producing good fruit begins with trusting God, as we grow in our relationship with God we will grow in ability to trust in Him as this happens our lives will be increasingly fruitful.

I hope this has been encouraging as you labor to lead your child to the cross!