"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV; emphasis added)

I've been a father to one child for a little over three years, but in the relatively short span that I have been a parent, one thing has been made clear to me: being a parent without an empowering of the Holy Spirit is a feat that can ruin your life and potentially your child's life too.

We all know what it's like to be in a tripartite marriage, and you've heard me talk about that many times. But a tripartite parenting scheme might not be as popular. The idea of such a concept suggests the move of the power of the Holy Spirit in us as we raise our children so that we allow the grace of God over our performance as parents rule the identity and destiny of our children.

I can only begin to count the number of times I have failed as a father, but I thank God every day that He never leaves me alone to face the challenge of parenting. If there's anything I've learned as a parent, it's this: Do not ever think you can be a decent parent without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In particular, one facet that we really need the Holy Spirit's guidance in is in the area of patience. Any parent will know just how real the struggle to be patient with children can be at times. As cute and innocent as they can seem, when they cry in the middle of the night, throw tantrums over toys, fight with their siblings or wrestle with your for the TV remote, patience can easily go out the window.

But then we look at Galatians 5:22 and are quickly reminded that patience is a facet of the fruit of the Spirit. There are many facets to the fruit of the Spirit but it's all one fruit. We don't receive the fruit in chunks; it comes as a package deal. To be a spirit-led parent means growing in patience as we love our children with God's unfailing love.

1 Corinthians 13:4a further says, "Love is patient and kind..." (ESV). Are you naturally patient and kind to your children? Probably when you're in a good mood and they're asleep. Being patient and kind to our children can be a constant battle, but that's all right. Well, okay, it's not, but we all struggle with this at times. It doesn't matter if you're James Dobson, kids will challenge your fruit because they're people and that's what we tend to do in our sinful nature.

But in all of this, we can be assured that there is more than enough to empower those who continue to trust in the Spirit of God for guidance and compassion to be parents longing to have the same father heart God does. We can turn to Jesus to be the supplier of love, patience and kindness so that we will never run short when we are loving, disciplining and training our children the way God wants us to.