Week 1: LOVE
Day 1
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Word study: What is love?
Lesson for all kids:
First type of love: Agape – Selfless love you have when you choose to act in such a way that you always do what is best for the other person before you do what you want to do for yourself. You always think about others first. This is also unconditional love, which means that even if a person does a bad thing, they are still loved. This is the kind of love God has for us, and the kind of love we ought to have for God. This is the kind of love we are talking about in the fruit of the spirit.
Memory work: This is your memory work for the entire week. Print it out and post in a prominent place.
2-3 year olds:
“God is Love.”
4-year-olds:
Beloved, let us (B)love one another, for love is from God.
5-7-year-olds:
Kiki: 1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (Anyone remember this one from Kid’s Praise and Psalty? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bbKRBTggo4)
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. (For those of you who remember GT and the Halo Express, this song is on the first CD about God’s love)
Craft: Heart Garland
Craft: This week you will make a love action garland. I purchased some ribbon and some already-cut heart shapes from Michael’s, but you can use string and paper from around the house and cut out hearts on your own. Cut about 10-15 feet of ribbon and attach each end to the wall so it dips down just a little. Ask each person to think of one thing to do today that shows agape love to another. Be specific about what will be done and who will be the object of that love. Write each action on a paper heart and attach it to the ribbon. Then hang the ribbon on the wall. At the end of the day, discuss your success in showing agape, difficulties encountered, how great God is for loving us in this way. Each day, repeat the activity, and at the end of the week you will have a garland of loving actions your family performed for the week.
Day 2
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Word study: What is love?
Lesson for all kids:
1. Review Agape love.
2. Ages 4 and up: The second type of love – Philos – The kind of love friends have for one another. When we have this kind of love, we are loyal to our friends and family so that when bad things happen to them, we are beside them helping them out even if that means we put ourselves into danger for them.
Memory work: See memory work for entire week.
Craft: Cut 3 smallish hearts for each child and have each put the hearts into his pockets. During the day, encourage each to show philos and at the same time, give a heart from his pocket to the person he is showing love to. Write the action on the heart and tape it to a piece of paper (each child gets one piece of paper and his own hearts taped to it). At the end of the day, put the papers into the corresponding child’s binder.
Day 3
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Word study: What is love?
Lesson for all kids:
1. Review agape and philos
2. Ages 4 and up: The third type of love – Storge – the kind of love people in a family have for one another. This is like the kind of love parents have for their children or brothers and sisters have for one another.
Memory work: See memory work for entire week.
Craft: Print the Heart Coloring Page and have each child draw a picture of a family showing storge. Place each child’s drawing into his binder.
Day 4
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Word study: What is love?
Lesson for all kids:
1. Review Agape, Philos, and Storge.
2. Ages 4 and up: The fourth type of love – Eros – This is the kind of love moms and dads have for one another before and after they are married. You can expound for older kids, if you like.
Memory work: See memory work for entire week.
Craft: Tell a story from your dating or marriage relationship that demonstrates eros. For example, your engagement story, a funny story from your marriage, etc. Ask the children to draw a picture of your story as you tell it. Place each child’s drawing into his binder.
Day 5
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Lesson for all kids:
1. Review Agape, philos, storge, and eros.
2. Talk about the memory verses in the context of agape. Have a discussion about whether humans can actually show agape in its perfect form (I understand there are differing philosophical and theological opinions, and it might be interesting to present several points of view on this for older kids).
Memory work: See memory work for entire week.
Craft: Love garland activity
Day 6:
Read Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Say together, “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”
Lesson for all kids:
1. Review Agape, philos, storge, and eros.
2. Go around and ask each child what was learned in the past week. Write it down for each and put each response into the corresponding binders.
Memory work: Recite this week’s memory work without help.
Craft: Love garland activity.
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