Welcome to the 17th edition of the daily devotional. We pray that God be with and enrich you spiritually, financially, and physically in the name of Jesus Christ. The devotional focuses on the fruit of the spirit.

Goodness

Matthew 25: 34-46

Goodness is the quality or condition of being good. It is doing good things out of a good heart for another person. To be good is to do what is right.

Christians or believers who live under the control of the Holy Spirit will show this God-like attribute in their Matthew 25:34- 46 Jesus, in His teachings, demonstrated how the final judgment will be when all the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the sheep from the goats.

Meditate 1

The sheep will be on His right hand while the goats will be on the left. Jesus used sheep and goats to illustrate how people will get their reward from the King according to the goodness they have done while on earth. The good deeds done by every believer shall speak for them in judgment.

To those on the right(the sheep), the King will say…(Let a child read verses 34-The righteous will respond with amazement, wondering when they had seen Him and met His needs.

Then, the King will respond by saying to them, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”To those on the thought, words, and actions. Goodness is an expression of God’s love towards others.

Meditate 2

Open your Bibles to Matthew 25:34-46 to learn more about goodness. Left, He said, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”The reason is that He was hungry and they gave Him nothing to eat.

He was thirsty and nothing was given to Him to drink; He needed clothes and no one clothed Him; He was ill and in prison and no one cared to look after Him.

Meditate 3

They will also ask Him,“Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison and did not help you?” and he will reply,“ Truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

The reward of the righteous is eternal life, while eternal punishment is for the unrighteous. This implies that God is aware of every one of your deeds, whether good or bad, great or small, noticed or unnoticed by people.

Goodness is a virtue that God’s children must imbibe. Continue to do good deeds to all, especially to those of the household of faith (believers in Christ).

Invitation

What do you think will be your reward on judgment day? Do you do good deeds or bad deeds? Come to Jesus right now, He is ready to accept you and help you to do good. (Give children an opportunity to decide to repent from doing bad deeds and to make doing good a habit.

Prayer

Pray with them and do good deeds to all, especially to those of the household of faith (believers in Christ).

Faithfulness

Mathew 25: 14-30, 1 Corinthians 4: 2

Question 1

What is faithfulness?

Response

Faithfulness is to be loyal or firm in keeping promises or observance of duty. It is total submission to God. It is also a fruit of the Spirit.

Question 2

How does Jesus describe faithfulness in His parable in Matthew 25: 14-30?

Response

This parable tells of three servants to whom the master entrusted his money. One of them was given five bags of gold, another two bags, and another one bag. Each was given according to their ability. Then the master went on a journey.

The servant who was given five and the servant who was given two were faithful to their master. They both put what they were given to work and made a profit from it. On arrival, the master was happy with them and rewarded them accordingly.

The servant who was given one hid it in the ground instead of working with it like the others. He was unfaithful to his master. So, the bag of gold was taken from him and given to the servant with ten. Then, he was punished for his unfaithfulness.

Question 3

Why is it important for children of God to be faithful?

Response

Every child of God needs to be faithful because:

• Firstly, that is God’s expectation of you (Let children read the memory verse -: 1 Corinthians 4:2).
• Secondly, it gives you a sense of trust, like the servant who was given another bag of gold because he made a profit with the five he was given.
• Thirdly, faithfulness opens the door When you are faithful to God and your fellow human beings, you will be blessed.

Examples in the Bible of those whom God blessed because of their faithfulness are Job, Moses, Ruth and David, and many others.

• Fourthly, faithfulness strengthens your relationship with God and others.
• Fifthly, God will reward those who remain faithful to the end.

Invitation

What has been entrusted to you like those servants? Are you faithful to it? Do you know you are going to give an account one day?

Prayer

Lead children to pray for forgiveness in ways they have been unfaithful and also pray for the grace to be faithful to what has been entrusted to them).

Gentleness

Read Galatians 5:22-6:1, Colossians 3: 12-13

Gentleness is to have a mild and kind nature or manner. It is the character of being calm, restful, quiet, and peaceful. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, identifies gentleness as evidence of the fruit of the Spirit.

He encouraged them to live by the Spirit and not by the desires of the flesh. This is because the flesh and the Spirit conflict with each other(vv.16,17).

Meditate 1

Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh, its passions and desires, and now live by the Spirit. Paul advised that gentleness should be shown to restore anyone caught in a sin, but with caution so that the one trying to restore the person does not fall into the same temptation.

In his letter to the church at Colosse, Paul taught God’s chosen people there to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, patience, and gentleness.

This goes further to show the importance of gentleness. Jesus is our perfect example of gentleness. He did not get aggressive or fight when His enemies falsely accused Him.

Meditate 2

What would you do, if you were the one? Jesus did not bully others and he made time for those whom the rest of society rejected. One of the best-loved sayings of Jesus is: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29). As a child of God, Christ expects you to show forth the fruit of the Spirit“gentleness” as He did.

Invitation

Do you treat others gently? When someone wrongs you, do you express anger without restraint? Do you respond to people with gentleness, regardless of the circumstances?

Prayer

Pray for grace to be gentle.(Lead children to pray with the song in the Introduction. Then, pray with them and counsel them).

Self-control

Read Daniel 1:3-21

Self-control is the ability to control one’s feelings, temper, taste, appetite, and so on. In 605 B.C., the Babylonians marched against Judah and besieged Jerusalem.

They took some temple articles to Babylon, as well as some of Judah’s finest young men. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, his chief court official, to choose the very best of these men and train them for the king’s service.

Among these young men were Daniel, whose name means “God is (my)Judge, Hananiah means, “The LORD shows grace,” Mishael means “Who is what God is,” and Azariah means “The LORD helps.”

They were given Babylonian names, trained in Babylonian language and literature, and placed on a special diet. But Daniel and his three friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king’s food and drink.

Meditate

They regarded the food offered by the Babylonians to be defiling because portions of the wine and meat would have been offered to idols.

In response to Daniel’s and his friends’ faithfulness and self-control, the Lord gave them superior intellect. He also gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams and visions.

When they were brought to the king, he found Daniel and his friends to be ten times better than his wise men and diviners.

So, the king appointed them to his service. What a reward for self-control! There are give them money to buy snacks in school, but Jummai does not agree with her sister.

When Janet asked her why, she said, “I cannot do it because it is a sin against God and man.” Open your Bibles to Daniel 1:3-21 to learn about some young people who also showed self-control like Jummai’s rewards for self-control e.g., earthly blessings, that is, favour with men (v.9), and blessings from God (knowledge and wisdom)v. 17.

Invitation

As children, God expects you to exercise self-control in school, home, church, and anywhere you may find yourself. Examine yourself; In which area of your life do you need to practise self-control? Read more similar posts on our devotional page of the site.

Prayer

Lead the children to pray, and to be self-controlled even when no one sees them.