Welcome to Week 5 of the Family Fruit Challenge! This week we are learning about PATIENCE!
Below you will find a short devotional to read with your kids, a link to download Bible memory cards, and links to fun songs and activities that will help you teach your child about the Fruit of the Spirit.
(If you happened to stumble upon this blog post and you haven’t been part of the Family Fruit Challenge, you can sign up HERE to start with Week 1 and get all 10 lessons delivered straight to your inbox).
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Special thanks to our guest blogger today, Becca Wierwille. Learn more about Becca at the end of this blog post!
A DEVOTION ABOUT PATIENCE
Be patient. We hear those words a lot, don’t we?
When we’re waiting in line at the grocery store, we’re supposed to be patient. When we’re sitting in the car during a long road trip, tired and longing to stretch our legs, we’re told to be patient. When we’re frustrated with our brother or sister or friend and can’t stand playing with them any longer, we have to be patient.
But what does patience even mean?
Patience is more than waiting for our turn. It’s more than keeping our mouths shut so we don’t say something we’ll feel sorry for later.
Patience is a way of living. We live in a broken world, and there are lots of things that can upset us. When we are patient, we don’t give up, even when life gets hard or people get on our nerves. We endure. We are present in the moment. We slow down our hurry to get to the next fun thing. We take a deep breath when we start to get angry. We remind ourselves that God is filled with mercy, and He is patient with us—and so we can be patient with the people in our lives.
In other words, in order to be patient, we take life as it comes—the trouble, the frustration, the waiting—without getting upset or mad.
When we’re waiting in line at the grocery store, we are calm and unhurried. When we’re sitting in the car during a long road trip, we feel thankful to be traveling instead of angry to be waiting. When we’re frustrated with our brother or sister or friend, we are patient with them like God is patient with us, and we give them another chance.
Patient people wait calmly, control their tempers, show kindness to others, and don’t rush from one thing to the next. Patience changes the way we treat time and the way we treat others. Paul writes it this way: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).
Sounds easy enough, right?
Not at all!
I don’t like to wait. I don’t like to give my friends another chance when they upset me. I get angry when things aren’t going the way I want.
We all make mistakes, and on our own, patience like this seems impossible.
The good news is, we’re not on our own. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. God produces patience. It comes from Him. The more time we spend with God in our everyday lives, the more we can grow in this area. The more we read God’s word, the more we can learn from Jesus’s time on earth and how he showed patience in the way he lived.
Patience can start with a simple prayer when we feel the impatience creeping in: “Dear God, please help me be more patient.”
The Holy Spirit can help us grow and cultivate the fruit of patience so that when times get hard, we will be ready. And even when we mess up, God will be with us, and with patience and kindness, He will show us the way.
PRAYER
God, it’s really hard to be patient. I don’t like to wait. Please fill me with your Spirit so that I can have more patience in my life. When I’m tempted to get irritated or upset when something doesn’t go my way, help me to remember that you are patient with me, so I can be patient with others. Amen.
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BIBLE VERSES ABOUT PATIENCE
DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE BIBLE MEMORY CARDS ABOUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Use these verse cards to help your children learn more about the Fruit of the Spirit. Read one each day and discuss what it means with your kids. Choose one verse card to memorize throughout the week. Print out the pictures of each “fruit” and display them in your home.
SONGS ABOUT PATIENCE
- Have Patience – Herbert the Snail – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL1BRPEjMZA
- You Gotta Wait for it – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3GGTAI30LI
- Veggie Tales Patience Song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvgcAYVCUWU
- Elmo video – Patience – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgeuCgODgv4
- While I Wait – Lincoln Brewster – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NswPPVgMaPE
- Wait – Steven Curtis Chapman – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMXu_qZkZiM
PATIENCE ACTIVITIES
THE OVERWRAPPED GIFT
Wrap a gift using multiple boxes or layers of wrapping paper. Tell your kids they can have whatever is inside. But here’s the catch—they can only unwrap one layer each day.
CROCK-POT DUMP CAKE
Make a dessert in the slow cooker. Have your kids help you add and mix the ingredients, then turn on the Crock-Pot, set the timer, and wait!
FAMILY GAME NIGHT
Play a board game or card game that requires players to take turns. Focus on how we can be patient with each other when we are taking turns. Or try doing 1,000 piece puzzle together! That will teach them patience in a hurry!
CHILDREN’S BOOKS ABOUT PATIENCE
(Amazon Affiliate Links to books below)
- I’ll Wait, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
- Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
- The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
- Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
- Blog post: We’re Not Alone in Our Impatience
DOWNLOAD FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT PICTURE CARDS
Download a set of 9 picture cards, one for each Fruit of the Spirit. There are two cards on each 8.5×11 sheet of paper. Display them in your home to help remind your kids of the Fruit of the Week!
WHAT’S NEXT?
Be sure to sign up HERE to receive email updates each week when the next Family Fruit Challenge is ready for you! An email will be sent to your inbox every Monday for 10 weeks, with a link to the new blog post for the week.
OUR GUEST BLOGGER – Becca Weirwille
Becca Wierwille writes novels to remind kids they are wonderfully created to face the ordinary and extraordinary situations in life. Her short stories for children and devotions have been featured in numerous magazines and other publications, and she is a member of SCBWI, ACFW, and Word Weavers International. Kindergarten teacher by day and novelist by not-too-late-at-night, she wishes she could eat peach pie as often as most writers drink coffee. Despite her dreams of sandy beaches and mountain peaks, she loves living in Pennsylvania with her husband and their dog. You can visit her online at www.beccawierwille.com or follow her on social media @beccawierwille.
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