Lesson 4 The Fruit of the Spirit in Family Life

Loving My Family

The Fruit of the Spirit in Family Life

Read: Galatians 5:22-26 (Older families may want to include verses 16-21)
Questions for Discussion:
How does the Holy Spirit help us?
Why is the fruit of the Spirit important?
Can you think of anyone who shows the fruit of the Spirit to you regularly?
How can we show the fruit of the Spirit to our family members this week?

As a family stand in front of a large mirror. Begin naming similarities between family members, how they look alike or even talk or laugh alike. After you are finished with this, discuss how family members can share many similarities. Make a connection to how it is the same with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit in our lives is another way that the Spirit helps us to resemble our Spiritual Father.

Key Thought: The Holy Spirit helps us to be more like Jesus by helping us to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we obey and follow Jesus, the fruit grows in us. This fruit should be evident in how we interact with others, including our family!

Activities
Preschool: Blow bubbles with your child. As you pop each one, name a fruit of the Spirit.

Draw a large apple on a piece of poster board, and cut it out. Cut the apple into nine pieces. Hide the pieces around the room and encourage your child to find all of them. Put the pieces together. Help your child remember each fruit of the Spirit, and write one on each piece.

Lower Elementary: Go to the grocery Store with your child and allow them to pick out a piece of fruit, maybe one that they have never tried before. When you get home, cut the fruit into nine bites. Name a fruit of the Spirit with each bite, and thank God that the Holy Spirit helps you to be like Jesus.

Upper Elementary: Throughout the day, take a notebook with you wherever you go, and write down all the times you feel the Holy Spirit helps you to be like Jesus.

Go outside with your child. Look at a neighbor’s house. Take notes on what you see. How would you describe the house? What do you think the people inside the house are like? What does the outside of the house make you think about the people living inside the house? Make the connection to the fruit of the Spirit. When people look at us, if they see the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, then they are getting a picture of what God is doing inside of us.

Teens: As you get ready in the morning, think about what your outward appearance tells other people about you. Think about how the evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit can tell others about what God is doing inside you.