PEACE - Champions by the Fruit of the SpiritSýnishorn

Peace vs. Self-Trust

Bible story: Jesus feeds the 5000 "Luke 9:10-17"

Theme Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9

One of the ways we can develop real peace in our hearts is to trust God completely. This means to trust God with our food, our clothes, our marriage, our family, our school, our studies, our opportunities, and our whole lives. This goes against what the world says we should do. The world says we should have self-esteem and be confident in ourselves, which is true. However, there comes a time when God wants us to trust Him and not ourselves. When we only trust ourselves, we can lose our peace. This is because, at some point, we are not enough. We will never be enough.

In today's Bible story, the disciples ran into a huge problem. They found themselves with a large crowd of hungry people. They were going to have to send them all away to find food or find a way to feed them. The Bible says there were about 5000 men there, so there may have been at least 20,000 people, including all the women and children! That is a lot of people to feed! When the disciples brought up the problem to Jesus, Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat." Once again, Jesus is challenging the disciples to do something impossible. However, they were looking at the five loaves of bread and two fish that they had in their own hands.

You and I can also turn to what is in our own hands. We can look to our own skills, talents, knowledge, or finances. We can look to what we know how to do or our own talents. God wants us to trust in what He can provide. There are times when God wants to do something miraculous, regardless of our skills. God even uses people who are weak so that He can prove strong.

We can have more peace in our hearts when we can trust God instead of trusting ourselves. We do not have to have everything figured out. God already does.

Questions:

1. Have you seen a miracle?

2. How can God be everywhere?

3. What talents do you have with which you can serve God?

Life Application:

Ask God for an opportunity to serve Him in an area where you are weak. Sign up in your church to serve in that area. If you are quiet, speak out more this week. If you are loud, be quiet more this week.

Want more?

This reading plan is taken from Equip & Grow's children's curriculum, looking at being a champion by putting into practice the fruits of the spirit. Enjoy this plan at home, and then do the full curriculum at church with student books, games, crafts, songs, decorations, and more!

https://www.childrenareimportant.com/champions/