The Fruit of the Spirit...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Recently I have been working with the kids on learning about the Fruit of the Spirit of God. I wanted them to not just learn the names but be able to identify what these traits look like in action - in themselves and others. So, I drew up this rather simple little tree with the 'fruit' listed in the leaves. In retrospect I probably should have drawn fruit rather than leaves, but oh well!

I had the idea we could put a sticker on the 'fruit/leaf' when the kids identified that trait through our week but my clever little girl quickly cottoned on to that, loudly saying 'Look, Mummy, I'm giving Eli a toy - that's kind - can I put on a sticker?!'...about three times in thirty minutes.  Ahem... Well, I didn't want the kids 'performing' good things just for stickers, so I changed it around to identifying the fruit of the Spirit in others - so I could notice them in the kids, they in each other, the parents, etc.

It has been a lovely little project, seeing Lily exclaim 'Mummy, Eli's giving me a sweet cuddle, that's gentleness!'



The important task of choosing out a sticker is complete

For posterity I wanted to record some of the ways we have seen the Fruit of the Spirit enacted in our home in the last week or so...

love - family cuddle time!

joy - mummy feeling so happy when Lily came home from school

peace - lily and eli playing quietly together in her room

patience - the kids waiting patiently for dinner to be ready

kindness - eli giving lily the toy he knew she wanted to play with

goodness - lily obeying cheerfully when she was told it was time to tidy up

faithfulness - lily clearing her plate from the table without reminders 

gentleness - eli giving lily gentle cuddles on the couch during TV time

self-control - lily waiting in bed till the 'sun comes up' on her toddler alarm clock

Intense concentration when applying the sticker!

It has been (I hope) a good way for the kids to see their choices and behaviour in a bigger light than merely that action of the moment. Good for me too, as we work as a family to let that 'fruit' shine through our hearts and into our lives. Lily told me tonight she wants to keep the poster up 'forever and ever' which I think means for a good while yet... and so I think we will!

Yup, I put that sticker there!