WHAT GOOD FRUITS have you grown in your life recently? Which ones do you want to grow with the Holy Spirit’s help? Use some of these ideas in your family worship. Ask the Holy Spirit to live in your life so that these fruits of the Spirit grow stronger in you.
Fruitful Verse
Cut colored paper into fruit shapes. Read Galatians 5:22, 23 and write each of the nine fruits of the Spirit on a different fruit shape. Shuffle the papers and see how quickly you can arrange them in the right order. Or tie the fruit shapes to a length of string or yarn to make a verse garland.
Love
Cut out a really big paper heart. Ask each person in your family how they felt God’s love in the past week. Write all their answers on the big heart. Then give each person their own paper heart. Ask them to write their name in the middle of the heart and write around their name all the ways they like to be loved. Put the hearts where they can be seen to remind your family to share love with one another every day.
Joy
Read Psalm 96. It’s bursting with joy and praise! Write your own psalm of joy to God, or compose a happy song about the joy that God gives you, or make something with your craft materials to show how happy you are to be a child of God.
Peace
Find a peaceful picture in a magazine or calendar or draw one yourself. Search for a Bible verse that helps you to feel peaceful. Write the verse on the picture and give your picture verse to someone who is going through a hard time. Or keep it to remind you to trust God for peace when you feel worried and upset.
Patience
Love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4). Which Bible characters do you think were the most patient? When is it hardest to be patient? When you are waiting in line? When you are waiting for your birthday or a vacation? When other children are annoying you? Try to practice patience this week. Think of fun things to do when you have to wait or when you
ride in the car. Do or make something to help you to be patient and wait cheerfully.
Kindness
Make a list of people in your church who might be lonely, such as older people, people living alone, people who are new to your town or country, or someone who cannot leave their home. Work with your parents to do something really kind for each of the people on your list. Whenever you are being kind to others, it’s just like you are caring for Jesus,
and He loves what you do!
Goodness
What does it mean to have goodness in your life? Goodness is not about being perfectly obedient and doing everything right. The Pharisees tried to do this, but they cared more about themselves than other people, and that wasn’t good at all. Perhaps goodness is when you love God and other people so much that you want to do the best you can, cheerfully and kindly, just because you love them. Think of someone in the Bible who was good. Act out the story of their life, write their story, or draw a picture from their life.
Faithfulness
Read Hebrews 11 and discover some of the people in the Bible who were faithful. Draw around your hand. On each finger write one reason that you trust in God. Or ask some of the adults in your family and church to tell you their stories about why they trust in God. Write them in a faith journal.
Humility
Jesus showed humility by washing the feet of His disciples. He showed them that serving others is very special. Wash the feet of everyone in your family and then rub some sweet-smelling lotion or oil into their skin. Or clean their shoes, take out the trash, or learn how to clean the bathroom. Humility is discovering that when you love other people, you will do anything for them, however unpleasant! And then you discover that this kind of service makes you feel warm and happy because you are also serving God.
Fruit Salad
Use your favorite fruits to make a fruit salad or smoothie. Try to include nine different fruits to represent the nine fruits of the Spirit. While you enjoy your treat with your family, talk about where you have seen the fruit of the Spirit in each other’s lives. Thank God for all the amazing fruits He has created for us to enjoy!
Self-Control
Self-control is hard to develop, but it feels good! Give each person in your family a healthy sweet treat. See who can wait the longest before eating it. Practice letting other people go first when you are in line, or let them choose what they want first. Enjoy the great feeling of being able to control yourself for a little while.
Fruit Match
Try to find a fruit that matches each of the fruits of the Spirit in some way and arrange them in order. If you can’t get any of the fruits where you live, just draw pictures of them or make them out of modeling clay. For example:
Love – strawberries (because they are heart-shaped)
Joy – cherries (because they sparkle joyfully)
Goodness – apple (an apple a day keeps the doctor away)
Patience – pomegranate (because of the patience you need to pick out the seeds)
