SAMPLE. The Fruit of the Spirit. A Bible Study Course for Adults. by James A. Aderman. Leader s Guide. Lesson One Love Lesson Two Joy...

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1 The Fruit of the Spirit A Bible Study Course for Adults by James A. Aderman Leader s Guide Lesson One Love Lesson Two Joy Lesson Three Peace Lesson Four Patience Lesson Five Kindness Lesson Six Goodness Lesson Seven Faithfulness Lesson Eight Gentleness Lesson Nine Self-Control

2 The Fruit of the Spirit Leader s Guide Page 2 A sign-up sheet has been provided as a separate PDF file for class members to order the book Sanctification: Alive in Christ, by Lyle W. Lange, for enrichment reading. The material on this disk may be adapted, printed, and copied by the purchaser of this kit. However, the following notice must appear at the bottom of each page of the student lessons: 2010 Northwestern Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Ownership of this material belongs to either a congregation or an individual, but not both. Purchase by a congregation: Purchase of this material by a congregation gives Bible study leaders of that congregation permission to adapt and copy this material for use in one or more groups within that congregation. (Dual parishes may purchase one copy for use in both congregations.) Purchase by a pastor or other Bible study leader: Purchase of this material by an individual gives the buyer permission to adapt and copy this material for Bible classes he or she teaches or supervises. Buyer has permission to use this material only in the congregation he or she is currently serving or attending. Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Northwestern Publishing House 1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI Northwestern Publishing House Published 2010 ISBN

3 The Fruit of the Spirit Leader s Guide Page 3 Lesson One Love On the Fruit of the Spirit The taste of salsa is a mixture of tomato, salt, onion, cilantro, green peppers, and jalapeño peppers. Each of the ingredients can be discerned by the tongue, but the combination morphs them into a taste of its own. The fruit of the Spirit is a combination of at least nine characteristics of God that have combined into its own taste, its own fruit. Notice fruit is singular in fruit of the Spirit. Because the Spirit comes to dwell in each believer, he flavors the Christian s life with his unique taste. And through all Christians, the Spirit flavors the lives of everyone they touch. This means that the Spirit s fruit is not a characteristic believers must strive to obtain. The ingredients of the Spirit s fruit came into their lives along with faith in Jesus. So the fruit of the Spirit is a gift every Christian possesses and with the Spirit s empowerment seeks to display in his or her life. (Note: If you would like to copy this introduction for the students each week, as the author suggests, use the copy master on the last page of this leader s guide.) Worship (Psalm 119:1-8) LEADER: Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. GROUP: Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. LEADER: They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. GROUP: You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. LEADER: Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! GROUP: Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. LEADER: I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. GROUP: I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

4 The Fruit of the Spirit Leader s Guide Page 4 Introduction Ruby Bridges lived in New Orleans in the 1960s during a time of forced racial integration of the public schools. At 13 years old she was the first black child to attend the formerly all-white schools. Each morning Ruby walked through a protective phalanx of US marshals. But they didn t shelter her from all the spit balls and taunts of the crowds. She spent each day alone with her teachers inside the school building alone because the other students refused to enter. One of her teachers would later tell an interviewer, A woman spat at Ruby but missed; Ruby smiled at her. A man shook his fist at her, Ruby smiled again. Then she went up the steps and stopped and turned and smiled one more time. You know what she told one of the marshals? She told him she prays for those people, the ones in the mob, every night before she goes to sleep. That kind of love stands out. It shocks. It humbles. It changes people, and it even changes cultures. That is the kind of love the Spirit has equipped every Christian to live out. That is the love that came along with the faith in Jesus he worked in us. Studying God s Word God is love. Electric lights do not burn unless they are attached to a power source. Human beings cannot love unless they are plugged in to the source of love. Let s investigate what it means that God is love. Read 1 John 4: God demonstrated his love for us by forgiving our sins in Jesus. What are the characteristics of the love of God that John mentions here? That John hints at? Not self-centered, but other-centered; not dependent on the inherent value of the one it loves; unimaginably sacrificial; the source of our love, willing to give freely and generously; etc. 2. Which is the strongest statement: God is love, God loves, or God is loving? God is love tells us he is the source of love. Without a connection to him, it is impossible for anyone to love. It is because he is the source of love that God is able to love humans and to demonstrate that commitment in loving ways. 3. Compare this description of God s love with Ephesians 2:4-10. What additional characteristics does Ephesians chapter 2 add? Note the emphasis on the incalculable reservoir of God s love and our inability to earn that love. His Word in My Life I love you more than anything in the world, we might tell people we value the most. But God s love is greater than that. If the universe were a container, it could not hold his immense, selfless commitment to human beings.

5 The Fruit of the Spirit Leader s Guide Page 5 1. Explain which characteristic of God s love mentioned in 1 John 4:7-21 is most important to you. Answers will vary. 2. A friend from your church has stopped taking a relationship with Jesus seriously. I don t have time for that stuff anymore, he tells you. I think showing my spouse and kids how much I love them is more important than spending time sitting in a pew in some church. What s the fault in your friend s thinking? It s through a growing relationship with the source of love note the need for continuing contact with God s Word that we learn how to love and are motivated to love. 3. Evaluate: Since God is love, we never have to be afraid that he will stop loving us no matter what our sin, even if we choose to hate him. His grace remains constant. Yet if we deny him, we have cut ourselves off from his grace and mercy. If we worry about that, though, we need to know that his door is always open. Second Timothy 2:13 says, If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. Studying God s Word Our Response to God s Love Since God has poured out his love on us even though we far from deserve it, how do we respond? 1. Look again at 1 John 4:7-21 and Ephesians 2:4-10. This time look for the impact that God s love has had on Christians. We are born of God and know God; we live in him and he in us; we are made alive; we have no fear; we love because he first loved us; we are seated in the heavenly realms; we are saved; and our salvation is a gift of God. 2. Now look over those Scriptures again to find descriptions of ways grateful believers will respond to God s love. After listing those responses, think of at least one practical way we live each one. We love one another, reflect God s love (1 John 4:12), rely on the love God has for us, do good works, etc. 3. Let s be more specific about the way God s love for us in Jesus will prompt similar expressions of love in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. Describe how gracegrateful love will express itself. Offer an everyday example of each attribute. Write down the list of ways our love expresses itself. Answers will vary. His Word in My Life The focus of God s love is outward, toward others. It is never concerned about personal gain. God s love for us in Jesus empowers us to love others in the same selfless way. 1. First John 5:3 says, This is love for God: to obey his commands. Explain the relationship between obeying God s commands and loving people as we have been loved by God.