Tips

• Showing kids a real Bible and reading part of the story directly from the Bible helps kids know this isn’t just a made-up story—it’s found in God’s Word!
• Using “pair shares” where kids share with a partner ensures everyone gets a chance to answer the question—not just one or two kids.

Draw and Tear

            Say: We’re going to spend several weeks learning about the fruit of the Spirit. You know how the branch of an apple tree will grow an apple because it’s connected to the tree? That’s kind of like what happens when we follow Jesus. Because we’re connected to Jesus, we grow fruit.

            Only we don’t grow apples. The Holy Spirit grows good things in our hearts, helping us live and love like Jesus. Let me read to you what the Bible says about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

            Today we’ll explore how love is a fruit of the Spirit. And to understand how love grows in our lives, let’s read a story Jesus told to help us understand what God’s love looks like.

            Open your Bible to Luke 15, and show kids the words. Distribute paper and pencils.

            Say: This story is about a father and his two sons. So draw the family with the dad in the middle and a son on each side. Allow time. Have kids hold up their pictures so you can see them all.

            Such happy families! But one day, something happened.

            Read Luke 15:11-13.

            Say: When the son asked for his money before his dad died, that was like saying he didn’t care about having a relationship with his dad. He just wanted money. Then he ran away! Tear your paper so one son is no longer attached to the father. Allow time. Encourage kids to rip carefully, but it’s okay if they’re not precise.

            Well, Jesus said the son lived wildly. Then he ran out of money and had to get a job feeding pigs. But he still didn’t have enough food to eat. This guy made a lot of bad choices! Let’s crumple our papers to show that. Have kids crumple the portion of the paper with the son on it.

            Then one day, the young man had a thought.

            Read Luke 15:17-20.

Repair the Picture

            Say: When he went back home, his father still loved him! Even though he’d hurt his father and made bad choices, the father loved him just the same! Uncrumple your paper and smooth it out. Pause.

            The father even threw a party to celebrate that his son was home. Tape your son back to the picture of the father. Allow time.

            Meanwhile, the other son was jealous he didn’t get a party. But he’d gotten to enjoy his father’s love the whole time!

            This was a story Jesus made up to show how God loves us. Even though we make bad choices sometimes, God always loves us. And God helps us love others that way, too. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, so we love and forgive like the father loved his son.

Discuss

            Say: Even though the son hurt his father’s feelings, the father was always ready to welcome him back home.

            Ask: • Tell about a person you’d always welcome to your house. Have kids turn to a partner to share. Then ask a few kids to share with everyone.

            Say: It’s easy to love people like that! That’s like the father loving the son who stayed. But love is a fruit of the Spirit, and God helps us show love even to people who are hard to love.

Tip

• Don’t have internet in your classroom? That’s okay! You can choose your own worship songs from our Best Of Dig In Music DVD here.

Sing Songs to God

            Sing the three songs in any order.

Tip

• Want to do more personal study on God’s love, revealed through Jesus? Read John 1:14-17; Galatians 2:20; and Ephesians 5:2.

Fill a Board With Love

            Say: Today we’re exploring what it means that love is a fruit of the Spirit. Jesus told a story about a father who showed amazing love to his son. That makes me think about people and things we love! Let’s fill a board with all the things we love!

• Draw a heart—as large as possible—on a whiteboard.
• Begin by naming a person or thing you love and writing it in the heart. Then have kids call out things or people they love. Withhold judgment if kids call out favorite foods or sports teams.
• Write down everything kids share. If you have lots of non-readers, you may want to draw pictures when possible. If you have plenty of older kids, you may want to allow kids to take turns coming up and writing on the board themselves.
• Continue until the heart is completely full of things and people kids love!

Erase Words

            Say: Wow! There’s a lot of love up here on this board. Let’s imagine we have to give up some of these things. Hold up your eraser. Point to one of the words on the board—ideally something like a food or game.

            Say: You love [name of item], but would you be willing to live without it? Let’s vote.

            Kids can vote with a thumbs-up (keep it—I can’t live without it!) or thumbs-down (erase it). If the majority of kids give that item a thumbs-down, erase that word or picture.

            Continue until kids can’t choose any more items to erase.

            Ask: • Why would it be hard to give up someone like [a person still written on the board]?

            • What would life be like without things like [some of the words or pictures still on the board]?

            Say: The Bible tells us that God loved each of you—each person in the world—so much that he gave up his Son, Jesus. God sent Jesus to come live on earth. He loved us so much that he let Jesus to die to take the punishment for all the wrong choices we make, the hurtful things we do, and even the good things we choose not to do! Because of God’s love, you and I can have a forever friendship with God. Let’s think about something.

            Ask: • How is God’s love different from the love we have for things like [some of the things you erased from the board]? This question may require kids to think a bit—that’s okay!

            • What’s one way you can show that kind of love to others?

            Say: Love is a fruit of the Spirit. That means our close friendship with God can help us have the same kind of love God showed to us!

Tip

• If possible and you have a little more time, consider leaving your classroom and guiding kids on a prayer walk around your church building.  

Walk and Pray

            Say: Today we’re discovering that love is a fruit of the Spirit. In our Bible story today, a father eagerly welcomed his son back home. No matter where we are or where we go, our Father God is eager to hear from us.

            When we pray, we don’t always have to sit super still. God likes talking and walking with us, too!

            Let’s take a prayer walk around our room. As we walk, we’ll talk with God. You can just think the words you want to say to God, or you can whisper them aloud. In this case, it’s okay if we all talk at once—God hears us all!

            As you walk slowly around the room, you might see something that makes you think of a prayer request. Like when you see a table and chair, you might think of your desk at school and ask God to help you learn new things. Or you might see toys and ask God to help you and your friends get along as you play.

            Explain that you’ll give kids two minutes, and they can walk anywhere around the room as they pray. After two minutes, have kids walk to you, like they are returning to the father in today’s Bible story. Have everyone huddle up as you close in prayer.  

            Pray: Dear God, thank you for your never-ending love for us. No matter what happens, we can always return to you and tell you about it. Now, may we keep walking and talking with you all throughout this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

            Ask: • What will you do when you return home today?

            • How can you show God’s love as you do that?  

            Say: Love is a fruit of the Spirit, so walk in God’s love today!

Tips

• It may take a while for kids to find the Bible verse. That’s okay! This activity is primarily about building Bible navigation skills.
• If you have a lot of non-readers, have some picture Bibles on hand for them to flip through as older kids look up verses. They won’t look for anything specific, but they can look at the pictures to practice paging through Bibles.
• It’s a great idea to have a stash of matching classroom Bibles, such as the Hands-On Bible. This will avoid confusion of different translations or storybook Bibles that don’t include every passage. Even so, avoid the temptation to just tell kids a page number—let kids practice finding verses.

Explore 1 John 4:19

            Say: Jesus’ story about the father who loved his son shows us just how strong God’s love is. And love is a fruit of the Spirit. That means we can show God’s love to others! Let’s see what the Bible says about that.

            Make sure kids all have Bibles. Younger kids can sit with older kids so they can observe the skills of using their Bibles even before being able to read.

            Say: Our Bible verse is in the book of 1 John, chapter 4, verse 19. Let’s find the book of 1 John. That’s in the New Testament—which is the later part of the Bible. Open your Bible kind of near the back. Allow time.

• Point to the book of 1 John on the poster so kids can see the name and what books come before and after it.
• Mention that the chapter numbers are the big numbers, and help kids find the big 4 in 1 John.
• Mention that the verse numbers are the small numbers, and help kids find the small 19 in 1 John 4.
• When everyone has found the verse, ask someone to read 1 John 4:19 aloud.

Mirror a Partner

            Say: When we show God’s love to others, it’s like we’re mirroring the love he’s shown us. Let’s see how well you can mirror a partner.

• Form pairs.
• The older partner in each pair will be the Actor, and the younger partner will be the Reactor.
• Actors will do silly motions, and Reactors will try to keep up and mirror them as closely as possible.
• After a minute or so, switch roles and keep playing.

            Ask: • How well do you think you mirrored your partner?

            • Describe what you had to do to be a good mirror.

            • What does that show you about how we can mirror God’s love? Allow time for kids to think about this question—it will help them make discoveries!

            Say: Love is a fruit of the Spirit. That means the Holy Spirit helps us show God’s love. And when we recognize how much love God has shown us, it makes it easier to love others.

Tip

• WARNING! Don’t just print and distribute! Here’s why.

Older Kids: Do an Activity Page

            Say: Today we’re learning about the fruit of love. When we follow Jesus, love grows in our lives! Our love becomes more like God’s love—which Jesus explained when he told the story about the son who ran away and the dad who welcomed him back home. Let’s make a heart that shows that story.

            Distribute the activity pages and pencils. Kids will follow the directions to make an origami heart.

            Ask: • What rules did you have to follow to make this heart?

            • What would have happened if you had done your own thing instead?

            • How can following these rules help us understand something about God’s love? Give kids a moment to process and ponder this question. Welcome their insights as they connect something concrete to something that may be less tangible.

            Say: Love is a fruit of the Spirit. God’s love never ends—even if we don’t follow the rules. Like the father loved the son even when he ran away, God loves us even when we don’t obey. The heart can remind you that the son was in the father’s heart no matter where he went. And we’re in God’s love no matter what. Because he loves us, we can show his love to others.

Younger Kids: Color a Coloring Page

            Distribute the coloring pages and crayons. Say: Today we learned that love is a fruit of the Spirit. Jesus told a story to show us what God’s love looks like. He talked about a father who loved his son, even when the son ran away. He welcomed his son home! Let’s color that picture and think about how we can share God’s love.

            Allow time for kids to color. Optionally, kids can add heart stickers to the picture.

            When kids finish coloring, three-hole-punch their pages and put them into binders, if desired.

Talk About Fruit

            Say: In the story Jesus told, the father showed incredible love to his son. Love is a fruit of the Spirit. When we have a close friendship with God, his Holy Spirit helps us show that kind of incredible love, too! Let’s learn a Bible verse that can help us understand a bit more.

            The Bible might feel like a huge book, but it may help to remember that it’s one big book that’s filled with a bunch of little books. We’ll learn a verse from the little book of Galatians.

            Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Explain that the Holy Spirit is a special helper, given to us by God. Have kids say the verse with you a few times, using the words on the poster to guide them.

            Ask: • This verse talks about fruit. Call out some fruit you like.

            Say: Things like [some of the fruit kids called out] usually grow on trees or bushes. We can see that a tree is a peach tree because it has peaches on it. In the same way, when we let God’s Holy Spirit work in our hearts, we have fruit like love, joy, and peace. People can look at you and see those things and know you’re a friend of God’s!

Learn a Verse

            Say: Let’s learn this verse and explore what it means to have love growing in our lives.

• If you have more than 10 kids, form mixed-age groups of five, with at least one reader in each group. Send each group to a different area of the room, near a wall.
• Hand each group a few pencils and some sticky notes.
• Using the words on the poster, readers write one of the fruits of the spirit on each sticky note. Be sure to put a heart on the word love so non-readers know which note says “love.” Non-readers can be runners who stick these to the wall, near the group, as they are completed.
• When all nine words have been attached to the wall, let each group choose one person to be the first “Farmer.” Everyone else will be Trees.
• Lead the class in saying the verse slowly, using the words on the poster. As kids say the verse, the Farmers will help their Trees “grow” fruit by putting at least one sticky note on each person’s arm or shoulders (so everyone can see it).
• When the verse ends, the person growing the fruit “love” will give high-fives to each person in the group.
• Put the sticky notes on the wall and play again. The person wearing love can give side hugs, fist bumps, or high-tens, as he or she is comfortable.
• Play until every group member has had a turn to “grow” the word love.
• Gather everyone together.

            Ask: • Looking around the room, how could you tell who was growing the fruit “love”?

            • Think about people in real life who show you love. What things do they do? What can you tell about God by watching them?

            Say: Love is a fruit of the Spirit. As we grow to know and love God more, the Holy Spirit—God’s helper—grows love in our hearts. And that love shows to people around us through our words and actions. People will know we’re friends of God when we show his love to others!

Do Things Forward and Backward

            Say: Today we explored how love is a fruit of the Spirit. We show love when we get along with people.

            Ask: • Tell about people who are easy to love. Share your own example first, such as your best friend.

            Say: It’s easy to love people we get along with. But what about when people just seem to be the opposite of us? Or when they hurt us, like the son hurt the father in our story by running away? Let’s practice showing love to people who are our opposites.

• Have kids form pairs with partners of a similar height and stand shoulder-to-shoulder but facing in opposite directions. Then have them link elbows.
• The older partner in each pair will be the first Leader.
• Whoever isn’t leading will be along for the ride, following the Leader but doing everything backward.
• You’ll call out a series of tasks to complete, and pairs will do them. After each task, the Leader will switch to the other partner. Use these tasks:
  • Walk 20 steps forward.
  • Bend over and touch your toes.
  • Sit down and rest for a moment.
  • Walk forward 10 steps, then turn left and walk 10 more.
  • Spin in a circle as fast as you can.
  • Hop forward 10 steps.
  • Shake hands with the Leader of another pair.
  • Skip for 10 steps.
  • Leap frog over the Leader of another pair.
• Let the game keep going as long as needed to fill time until parents begin to arrive, adding new tasks as needed and forming new pairs as kids get picked up.

            Distribute a copy of the “Dig In @ Home” handout to kids as they leave, or email it to parents during the week.