The fruit of the Spirit for kids is described in Galatians 5:22-23. It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Are these characteristics that describe most children? If you have children around, you probably would love these characteristics to flow from them. However, growing these traits is not natural for them or us.

Little humans may show love and joy. But, they typically want things right away. Their patience is something you are probably helping them to develop. If you have babies or pets around your kids, you may tell them to be more gentle. In addition, we say to our children, “Be good”. However, we assume they know what ‘goodness” is. Likewise, we want them to be kind to others. We hope they show self-control and grow to be faithful.

It is easy to treat these Godly traits as human characteristics. We somehow believe that we can cultivate these values without the spirit that forms them. In addition, kids mimic the behaviors of others. Therefore, if they are with people that show the fruit of the Spirit, they are more likely to model these behaviors too.

Kids need to see examples of the fruit of the Spirit

The first way kids will be able to develop the fruit of the Spirit is to see it modeled. As a school principal, these qualities were something that I focused a lot of effort on. First, I tried very hard to make sure my own actions and thoughts were characterized by these traits. Likewise, I regularly asked the Holy Spirit to be in control and produce these qualities each day through me.

I also reminded my teachers that they needed to do the same. Together, we came up with specific things we could do that would allow God to produce His fruit through us. You can read more about these steps here. By recognizing these characteristics in each other and keeping our focus on the Holy Spirit, we were helping children grow it too.

We can create an environment for the fruit of the Spirit to grow.

Let’s talk farming. Farmers would never plant crops in areas where they knew the seeds could not grow. Much of their job is in preparing the land before the planting. God prepares us and our kids to be fruitful too. Putting kids in the environment where they see adults model the fruit of the Spirit is definetly good, Unfortunately, not all schools have principals and teachers who ask the Holy Spirit to grow His fruit through them. Therefore, we need to make sure our children are around other believers. We need to make sure they have a church family.

As my children grew, they would often seek the advice of adults and older teens from our church. We made sure that church was not just a place we attended each week. The church is a family of believers. Consequently, we knew it was important to spend time with that family.

The third way we can help kids to grow the fruit of the Spirit is by reading God’s Word with them. The Bible should not be a book they only use when they are at church. It should also be something that you read together at home.

Become a fruit-bearing vessel like Little Pot!

The fruit of the Spirit can be produced through anyone that allows God to be their Lord and savior. Understanding how God uses us to produce the fruit of the Spirit is important. That is why Little Pot and I have come up with a seven-step process that will allow the potter to grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control through you. Just put in your first name and email so we can send you those seven steps. Then you’ll get a fruitful Friday email each week with ways to be even more fruitful!

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If you prefer to buy the entire set as a signed copy, go here. If you would like to schedule Dawn for a speaking engagement or author visit, go here.