Several months ago I was praying for a friend of mine and her kids when the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the Fruit of the Spirit. I relayed the message and decided that a little focus on the fruit would be good for us, too.
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Introducing the Fruit of the Spirit to My Kids
First thing we did was we started by memorizing the fruit with my oldest through singing Uncle Charlie’s “Fruit of the Spirit” song each morning on Amazon Music Unlimited. It’s a silly song that is so much fun to sing. We even add our own verses with crazy fruit that kumquat and boysenberry.
Then, slowly the Spirit’s fruit began creeping into our family in other ways. I began to pray the fruit over my children. I shout out “Be fruity!” at school and karate drop-offs. We’ve exchanged the word “nice” to “kind” in our family life. It’s been so powerful that I wanted to be more intentional with it some way, but I wasn’t quite sure how.
School Citizenship Awards
Throughout this time that we had been talking about the Fruit of the Spirit with my kids, my oldest had been earning lots of Citizenship Awards at school. They call them “Eagle Awards” for their mascot. Her school has four rules that all of the kids know and can recite.
“At our school we are:
- Respectful
- Responsible
- Caring and
- Safe”
Kids can earn awards when they are caught following the rules by staff. My daughter would sometimes earn 2 or 3 a week for holding doors or helping a friend clean up their lunch. She was always so excited by these awards and we were so proud of her!
Birth of the Tooty Fruity
Then, it dawned on me! Maybe I could harness that same excitement for the school rules with awards at home. Our family’s guiding principles would be the Fruit of the Spirit. We would use positive reinforcement and celebrate the Spirit’s work in our kids at the same time. Guess what! It worked!
I threw out the idea to my 6 year old and she LOVED it! It took us a couple of weeks to get the details all worked out and she asked several times when we would get started, but they are now done. Hollings (6) has even verbally given them out to kids at the playground.
How to Toot the Fruit of the Spirit in Your Kids
What my daughter and I created is a two part award system. First, we have a set of mini awards. Then, we have a family fridge chart to keep tally.
The mini awards have Galatians 5:22-23 on them, a place to write which fruit they practiced, and a place to sign it as the giver. Anyone in the family can give one to anyone else, which has been really fun. I love seeing my oldest recognize the Fruit of the Spirit in the other kids and in my husband. It’s also been meaningful to me to be able to appreciate my husband’s actions in front of my kids in a way that they can comprehend and celebrate.
After our first few days, I actually ended up printing two sets of the awards to a page. A third of a page seemed unnecessarily big, especially since we have 6 people in our family to toot. 🤣
Secondly, we made a chart for our fridge to keep track of what we earned Tooty Fruities for. This helps us to see places that we need to pray for and also things to be more observant for in others. We do not use the awards or chart as a competition among each other, but I can use the chart to be sure that I am encouraging each member of my family. I don’t want anyone to feel neglected.
BONUS Thoughts on the Fruit of the Spirit for Mamas
As my family has been celebrating the Spirit’s work in our kids using this method, my husband and I have had more conversations about the Fruit of the Spirit than usual and what we wish the Fruit were. We’ve mentioned we would love to see obedience and sharing/generosity, and maybe switch out self-control and gentleness.
Perhaps we feel that way because those are the hard ones for us, but who are we to try to change those things that God says are good and that He wants from us. God made the list and they are His Fruit through His Spirit. I want to respect that, understand that, and grow from that.
However, I do think that God calls us to obey Him even when we don’t understand or don’t agree, simply out of trust in Him. But, I don’t think we are to just stay there all the time. I think we are to move towards trying to understand God’s will and wanting what God wants.
So, I’ve tried to think of ways to recognize obedience through the Fruit of the Spirit. I can see and celebrate goodness in their choices and self-control when they obey instead of doing what they wanted. But, I think ultimately, God wants obedience to fall under the Fruit of love. In John 14:15 Jesus says, ” “If you love me, obey my commandments.” (NLT).
- Which Fruit is your strength?
- Your weakness?
- And, just for fun, what would your list of Fruit be?
Celebrate the Spirit in Your Kids
Do you have a way that your family celebrates the Spirit and His work in your kids’ lives? If not, I invite you to download our Tooty Fruity Awards. It has been so much fun and very encouraging in our home. God has also been working on my heart through it.
I’ve loved seeing God at work in my kids and giving Him credit for the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our home. We are all learning and growing through this fun and playful method and I think y’all can, too.
Mama, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit and the calling to disciple your children, too. If you would like to see what it might look like for me to come alongside you in your family discipleship, book a free consultation or check out the Parent Coaching page.
Subscribe below for your free copy of the Tooty Fruity Awards. Then, comment and tell me that you are using them with your family. Let’s celebrate the Spirit together!
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