This is Mr. Funky Teacher with BeAFunkyTeacher.com. I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast. Welcome back to Sunday School for Teachers. Today's episode is called the Fruit of the Spirit. Who We Are before what We do before we jump into today's reflection, I want to remind you what Sunday School for Teachers is really about. This is a space each week for my Christian teacher friends, whether you teach in a public school or a private one, to slow down, breathe and realign your heart with the one who called you to teach. I have a deep respect for all educators, including those who don't share my faith. But on Sundays, I intentionally dedicate this episode to openly share how my faith in Jesus shapes me as a teacher, how it grounds me, stretches me, corrects me and reminds me that teaching is more than a career, it's a calling. This isn't about preaching at anyone. It's about perspective. It's about spiritual alignment. Because Monday is coming and before we walk into lesson plans, meetings, emails, classroom management and all the noise, we pause here. We remember who we are, we remember whose we are and we walk into the weak anchored. Before we dive into today's reflection, I want to pause and share three things that I'm thankful for today. First thing that I'm thankful for is that I'm thankful that we got to celebrate my brother's 50th birthday at a local fire station. My brother who is mentally and physically disabled, we he loves. He loves fire station, he loves fire trucks, he loves heavy machinery and he my daughter is a volunteer firefighter and so we were able to get use of a banquet hall at a fire station and have a big 50th birthday party for him. Just celebrating celebrating his birthday. My mom was in the hospital days before she died on my brother's birthday two years ago and Last year it was just we, we celebrated my brother but it was tough coming up on the one year anniversary of my mom's passing. So this year I wanted to really try to make it special his, his 50th birthday and invite my so many people who know my brother from through the years. So there was definitely a sense of energy, love, kindness, compassion and I know God was with me and I know my mom was looking down from heaven as well on my brother's 50th birthday celebration. It was just, it meant the world to me. So, so thankful. And we had family travel in from Florida and Minnesota and colorad we and people in a local area came out. It was just, it was beautiful and, and I'm, I'm just so thankful for the outpouring of love towards my brother, celebrating his life of 50 years as. Just so I, I, you know, I'm just, I'm still thinking about yesterday and how touching it was. I'm just, you know, God is good. What a beautiful day. Second thing that I'm thankful for is I'm thankful for, for three of my four cousins who are like brothers to me. They did travel from Colorado and Florida to be at my brother's 50th and that kind of effort and love says so much to me. And then I, I, I, I'm just so thankful for how many family members, friends, community members came out to celebrate my brother. That, that support and love was incredibly, incredibly meaningful. All right y', all, let's go and let's jump right into our episode here. Our episode is the fruit of the Spirit, who we are before what we do. Our focus today comes from Galatians, chapter 5, especially verses 22 and 23, where Paul writes, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fruitfulness, gentleness and self control. But to really understand that list, we need the context. Paul is writing to a church in conflict. They were arguing about rules. They were dividing over what made someone spiritually acceptable. There was jealousy, tension, there was comparison. Right before listing the fruit of the spirit, Paul names what he calls the works of the flesh. Envy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension. He's contrasting two ways of living Life disconnected from God's spirit produces chaos. Life walking with God's spirit produces fruit. Notice something important there? It doesn't say fruits plural. It says fruits singular. This isn't a personality checklist. It's one unified evidence of a spirit led life. Fruit grows naturally. When a tree is healthy, you don't, you don't staple apples onto branches. They grow because the tree is rooted. See, Paul isn't saying, try harder to be patient. He's saying, what? Walk by the spirit. So stay connected and fruit will grow. This reflection for educators here. I have to say that in education, we are trained to measure outcomes. We are trained to test scores, growth charts, have behavior data, have performance data. So many things that for outcomes and to measure things. But see, heaven measures differently. The question isn't just, did you get through the lesson. It also. It's also, hey, did love show up? Did patience show up? Did peace show up? Students just. Students don't just learn from content. They just don't learn content from us, y'. All. They don't. They learn tone. They learn how adults respond under stress. They. They learn how mistakes are handled by us. They learn from our fruit. Love. Well, love shows up when a student struggles again. Joy shows up in how we we greet students. Peace shows up well, it shows up when the room feels tense, patient patience. It shows up when. When progress is slow, y'. All. And it can feel so slow sometimes. Self control shows up when we pause instead of react. And here's the. The freeing truth, y'. All. You cannot manufacture fruit when you are spiritually empty. Truth right there. Fruit grows from connection. Paul is not saying produce more. He's saying stay rooted. So let's talk about the. The. The practical classroom application here. What if this week you measured success not only by productivity, but by fruit? Think about it. Did I respond with kindness? Did I practice gentleness? Did I choose patience? You don't need to be perfect. There's no such thing as a perfect teacher. There's no such thing as a perfect student. There's no such thing as a perfect administrator. You don't need to be perfect. Fruit takes time. Roots grow before fruit appears. Some weeks you'll see it clearly. Some weeks you won't. But if you. If you stay connected, growth is happening as. As I share this my a reflective closing here. I want to say that Paul ends this section by saying, since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit. Keep in step, not sprint, not compare, not perform. Step in spirit. Teachers who are becoming matters more than what you are producing. Stay rooted and let the fruit grow. Will you pray with me, Lord? Shape my character more than my resume. And shape us all. The funky teachers listening into people whose lives reflect your spirit. When I feel impatient, grow patience in me. When I feel overwhelmed, grow peace in us. When love feels hard, root us deeper in you. We don't want to fake fruit. We want real growth. Help me walk in step with you this week. Help us walk in step with you this week in our classrooms, in our homes, in the quiet moments where no one sees. Amen. Hey, y'. All, Remember to inspire greatness in young people. Don't forget to be a funky teacher. Bye, now.