The Fruit of the Spirit
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control” Galatians 5:22-23. Fruit trees don’t force their fruit to grow. In the same way, we don’t make our Spirit-fruit
grow either; this is the job of the Holy Spirit when he lives in our lives and we learn to
follow and obey him more and more.
Begin class time by showing a tangerine to the children. Ask, "How did the
fruit become fruit." (A farmer planted a seed in good soil and proper lighting. It
was watered, fed fertilizer and probably sprayed for bugs. The tree grew and was
pruned. After several years the tree flowered, and the fruit began to
grow. Finally the fruit ripened and was picked. This process takes years
before the fruit is ready to be picked and eaten.)
Ask, “Who did all the work?” (the farmer) Did the tree have to work at
producing its fruit? (No, it naturally occurs when it is cared for properly.)
The Bible talks about Spiritual
Fruit. In the same way that a tangerine naturally grows from a tangerine
tree when it is properly cared for, Spiritual Fruit naturally grows and occurs
in a person’s life when he or she is a believer and follows and obeys Jesus
more and more. The spiritual fruit the Bible talks about is: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Peel the tangerine and separate the sections. Point out that the fruit has
different sections, but it is one fruit. In the same way, the Fruit of the
Spirit has many parts, but all the parts show us what a follower of Jesus
should look like on the inside. In fact, the Fruit of the Spirit is what Jesus
is like! (Separate the sections, and as you do, have children call out the
attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When a child calls out a
fruit name, hand him or her a piece of tangerine.)
Learn
more about the Fruit of the Spirit.
