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Fruit of the Spirit stories for Young Children
These fruit of the spirit stories were written to help children understand the importance of displaying the fruits in their young lives. It is very important to God that we develop the fruit and a great way to learn these is through fruit of the spirit stories. Children who begin learning this at a young age are much further ahead of their peers later in life. We should teach a child that he/she must learn how to 'walk in the fruit of the spirit' before God blesses them with an opportunity to use their spiritual gifts. These fruit of the spirit stories are intended to help kids understand how to operate in the 'fruit'. Great Fruit of the Spirit Resources God gives us all various gifts from the time we are born, however developing the fruit of the spirit takes time and practice. The fruit of the spirit stories below emphasize examples of kids walking in the fruit. Children need to know, especially in the beginning, they may not feel like exercising the fruit. Just as the fruits in the fruit of the spirit stories had difficulties with this character building exercise. Sometimes our emotions and feelings are pretty strong and our flesh wants to take over and control the spirit. Their fruits may get 'squeezed' as they are learning. Make sure to emphasize that this is a normal part of developing their fruit and it's working their spiritual muscles. Keep reading these fruit of the spirit stories to kids to help them understand that sometimes it is difficult for us to develop our fruits but with practice we can. Self Control & Joy- Fruit of the Spirit stories
One day two pieces of fruit were playing in the sandbox. One was a pear named Steady Eddy because he was so even tempered. The other was an apple named Gladys who was always happy and full of joy. The fruit continued to play out in the hot sun until both started to get a little tired and needed a cool drink of water. But when they checked their drink cups, they were empty. Steady Eddy, the pear felt a little brown and soft under the severe heat of the sun but decided to keep playing anyway. As Gladys reached for a shovel, Steady Eddy did too and grabbed it out of Gladys' hand. Gladys said "Eddy that wasn't very nice, I wanted that!" Eddy replied "Gladys, this is my shovel if you wanted to play with a shovel, you should have brought your own!" Gladys who was very upset pushed the shovel at Eddy and when she did it accidentally punctured the soft spot on his skin and pear juice came leaking out of Eddy. Well, Gladys just felt terrible and apologized for hurting Eddy. Steady Eddy said "No Gladys, its not your fault it is mine. I was hot and tired and wasn't thinking of how selfish I was being. You squeezed my fruit and I guess I wasn't showing much self control. I'm sorry." "That's ok Eddy", said Gladys, "let's go in and I'll put a band-aid on you and get you a cool drink of water." Fruit of the Spirit stories questions to ask kids: Have you ever felt like Eddy and had someone take something away that belonged to you? Have you ever felt liked Gladys and had someone want a toy only because you were playing with it? How do you think God expects us to react in a situation like Eddy's? Why do you think Steady Eddy lost his self control? What fruit of the spirit stories would be written about you? God has given us all self control and joy but sometimes we are put in situations where our fruit is squeezed and its hard to act with self control or act joyful when something is taken away from us. But the more times we go through this, the more opportunities we have to act the right way. And when we choose to act like we should, God jumps up and down and says "Hooray, they did it, I'm just so proud of them!"
Love & Patience- Fruit of the Spirit stories
One day two friends, Peachy Keen and her girlfriend, Nan the banana were taking a walk. Peachy Keen was known among all peaches to be very loving and kind while Nan had a reputation in the banana world for being very patient which meant she hardly ever lost her temper and could wait for things for a very long time without getting upset. Peachy who just loved doing things for others asked Nan if she minded waiting for Peachy on the path while she stopped by her grandmothers house to leave her a gift. Nan, being the patient banana she was said "no problem, go ahead and I"ll just wait here". So Peachy took a walk over to her grandmothers and found her sick in bed. Her grandmother told Peachy she was so glad to see her and wondered if she could help her with a few things. Peachy said "sure Grandma anything to help you". So Peachy started on a list of things grandma needed done around her house. Because as you know Peachy was all about love and enjoyed doing things for others. Meanwhile 15 minutes had turned into 2 hours! Nan had been sitting on the side of the road the whole afternoon waiting for Peachy. Now, normally Nan was very patient but she began thinking something must have happened to Peachy and feared she was hurt or in trouble. So Nan set off in the direction Peachy had gone but wasn't sure how to get to Peachy's grandmothers home and she got lost. While trying to find her way back she tripped and fell a couple of times and got some pretty nasty bruises. All the while she started muttering that Peachy will be in big trouble if she is fine and just forgot about her friend. Back at her grandmothers house Peachy finished up and kissed her grandmother goodbye. She realized as she was leaving that she had totally forgotten about Nan waiting for her on the path. She felt just awful and was worried Nan would be angry. When she had gotten to the place on the path that she had left Nan she found she wasn't there. So she began calling for her. Finally, she heard Nan's voice and found her. When Peachy ran up to hug Nan she squeezed her a little too hard and it hurt Nan's bruises. Peachy told Nan what had happened and asked Nan to please forgive her for being so thoughtless of Nan's feeling. Nan said she forgave her and Peachy helped Nan home and tucked Nan gently into her fruit basket being careful of her bruises. Fruit of the Spirit Stories questions for kids: Do you think Nan was wrong to be mad at Peachy? Is is ok to make someone wait a long time for you even if you are doing something nice for someone else? Have either of these fruit of the spirit stories helped you with patience or thinking of others? Nan had every right to feel angry for being left by Peachy. God doesn't expect us to never feel anger. But he does expect us to "show our fruit" by quickly forgiving offenses against us. When Nan's fruit had pressure put on it she bruised because she complained and murmured about Peachy. If she would have forgiven Peachy right away and prayed to God to help her find her way back she probably wouldn't have been so upset and fallen in the woods which resulted in her getting lots of bruises.
HUMILITY AND FAITHFULNESS -Fruit of the Spirit stories
Once upon a time their was a family of grapes who lived in a great big vineyard. The grapes had a long tradition of being very sweet and juicy and many people wanted to buy them to sell in their stores or restaurants. A small green grape named Aaron was just starting to grow and mature into a plump purple grape. Aaron knew his family's tradition of being from a great grape dynasty because he had heard his dad,uncles and grandpa talk about it many times before. Aaron was proud of his family and he had good reason to be. Aaron was also friends with a little ladybug that lived nearby him named Faith. He had met Faith when he was just a tiny squirt and they had become great friends. One day when Aaron and Faith were playing, Aaron told Faith that he planned to be in a bottle of the most exclusive and expensive wine known to the world. Faith laughed and said "You can't control where you are used. You may even be in a fruit salad, mixed up with lots of other fruits". Well Aaron was not very happy to hear that and he told Faith that his family was from a well known vineyard and he would never be caught dead in a fruit salad. Aaron said "I'm not from the lower class grapes that get tossed into a fruit salad, we are upper class grapes that only get chosen to be used in expensive wines." Well, just as Aaron said that the vine dresser walked down Aaron's row picking the ripe grapes near Aaron and he accidentally knocked Aaron off the vine. Aaron came crashing to the ground and he was stomped on by the vine dresser. Faith could not believe her eyes, one minute Aaron was boasting that he could only be used for fine wine and the next he was nothing but a sour smashed grape laying flat on the ground. Faith felt so bad that she vowed to stick with arrogant Aaron's family and talk to his little brothers and sisters about humility and pride. She wanted the rest of his family to realize that God does not like pride and he will destroy and bring down anyone who is proud or arrogant. God wants us to realize that without him, we can do nothing. When we start getting so full of ourselves that we brag and boast, God cannot use us and he has no use for us. Faith vowed to spend the rest of her life making sure all of the surrounding grapes knew the story of Aaron so they could walk in the spirit of humility and not be full of pride and arrogance like Aaron. Faith used her gift of faithfulness to commit to doing what God was telling her in her heart to do, no matter what the cost. She proved faithful in carrying out God's will for her life which was an apostle in educating other's about God's ways. Fruit of the Spirit Stories questions for kids: Do you think that Aaron would have stayed on the vine and continued growing if had not been prideful about only being used in a bottle of wine? Do you think God places just as much worth and value on a grape being used in a fruit salad as he does on a grape put into a bottle of expensive wine? Why? Do you think that God rewarded Faith for spending the rest of her life telling Aaron's story? Do you think the other grapes in Aaron's family had humility after hearing what happened to Aaron? Humility means the opposite of pride, it is defined as freedom from pride and arrogance or a modest estimate of one's one worth. Many of us struggle with the concepts in the fruit of the spirit stories above. The bible says that pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18) and humility comes before honor(Proverbs 15:33). God wants us to realize that regardless of what cards we have been dealt in life we can either be promoted or perish(destroyed) due to whether we choose to have a spirit of humility or pride. If you start feeling puffed up or better than someone else,it is time to quickly start praying that God help you gain humility. An easy way to gain humility is to look at where you live and all the blessings you have. They are all a result of your creator, not a result of anything you have done to deserves them. Constantly keep God first place in your life and humility will follow. Prayer: Heavenly Father,Sometimes I compare myself to others and think that I am better than them. Please help me to remember that my worth and value are based on your love for me, not what I do or become. Thank you for helping me to continue to walk in humility so that you can promote me. In Jesus name, Amen Fruit of spirit stories for young kids We are alot like the fruit in the stories. Sometimes we get jealous, angry, impatient, anxious, scared and out of control. Sometimes we even have an idea that we know more than others and everyone should listen to us. But God has placed the fruit of the holy spirit inside of all of us. It's a good thing too, because we also have lots of chances to practice using our fruit. These fruit of the spirit stories help us understand how, like these fruits we are often given opportunities to display our 'fruit'. Sometimes we find that in tough situations like Eddy and Nan experienced, our fruit is squeezed and we don't show the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. But if we pray to God and ask him to help us we will find it much easier to make right choices. Galatians 5:22,5:26 Proverbs 3:13, Proverbs 16:18,15:33 Father God,Thank you for these fruit of the spirit stories. I'm glad that the fruits of the spirit are already inside me so I can find them and use them anytime. Lord, sometimes I need your help when my fruit is squeezed and I don't act the way I should. Please help me learn to walk in the fruit when I am in a difficult situation. I want to be known for my good fruit. Please help me understand that through these fruit of the spirit stories I can make the right decisions and glorify God. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen Here are some recommended kids fruits of the spirit stories resources: Fruit of the Spirit stories, games, lessons If you've enjoyed these Fruit of the Spirit stories, please share the link to this site with others. My hope is that many can talk about these stories with their children. © Beth Rimstidt 2005 Permission is given for non-profit use of the information from this web page provided it is accompanied by the citation: Used by permission of Beth Rimstidt www.child-bible-lessons.com All requests for other uses will be considered. Please ask.
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