Twelve Days of Sunday School: Day Nine

In this series, I’ve challenged us to make sure our classes are ready to celebrate our Lord’s birth. I hope the series reminds us to give Jesus our best. I am suggesting twelve gifts this Christmas. In Part 1 I asked how you would fill in that day’s verse of this variation of the song, Twelve Days of Christmas (for a YouTube of the original song to inspire you, press the link). Here is what I have offered for the first eight verses:

1. On the first day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Love of God, neighbors, and self. 
2. On the second day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Start of a second class.
3. On the third day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Prayer for three prospects.
4. On the fourth day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Four ministry calls.
5. On the fifth day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Five quiet times.
6. On the sixth day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Six acts of kindness.
7. On the seventh day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Seven days of prayer.
8. On the eighth day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…Eight hours of sleep.

Take a moment to consider how you would complete the ninth verse:

On the ninth day of Christmas, my Sunday School class gave to Christ…

How did you complete the verse? Ask for your class’ response. Turn it into a request for class members’ commitment. Give your response to Christ and to each other. Make Christmas special by giving Jesus twelve birthday presents this year!

Here is how I would respond to today’s verse:

Nine fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit come from living in the Spirit. They proceed from a life lived with and for God. They are natural expressions of hearing and obeying the Word of God. Expression of the fruit of Spirit should be a goal of every Sunday School class. Here is the listing of the fruit of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23, NIV)

What if the class were to encourage one another this year in growing and living out the fruit? What if every lesson examined a way that the fruit could be expressed along life’s paths? What if Sunday School lessons strengthened the maturity and Christlikeness of every member? What if every month was an emphasis on one of the fruit? Wouldn’t that be an awesome gift to give to the Babe born in Bethlehem?

Jesus came to take our place on the cross. He deserves our best gifts. Living our lives for Him in this world means living out the fruit of the Spirit in every encounter and relationship. On which fruit do you need to work first? Find an accountability partner and help one another. P ray and read God’s Word about how you can strengthen your practice of the fruit. Do more than sing the words to today’s verse! Commit to it. Live it. Do it! Grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!