After catching a glimpse of FUEL last night (this is our junior high worship on Wednesday nights), I was inspired to further the discussion Mel was leading with the students.  She was discussing a few traits we might want to “wear.”  Humility and compassion were the ones I heard.  She used a cartoon to illustrate the ideas, and I had a thought that you could easily use any media to discuss these or other traits we would like our children to gain from Jesus.
 
Try this out.  To start, pick a few fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5 that you would like to focus on this week.  Talk about what they look like in action.  What does it look like when your child wears compassion or humility like another set of clothing?  Help them picture putting on that “clothing” item each day.  Pray each morning to have God help them keep it on throughout the day.  Then, when you are watching a TV show, a movie, commercials, reading a book or driving by billboards, ask these questions to your kiddos of all ages.  What is that character wearing right now?  Are they wearing patience and sharing with their friends?  Are they demonstrating gentleness?  What would it look like if they were or weren’t?
 
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23
 
As a side note, my daughter was at FUEL last night for the first time as she will be in junior high next year.  I was impressed with how the whole Student Ministry team handled the 104 students that were there.  And while it is hard to let her out of Children’s Ministry for the first time, I know my sweet girl is in good hands.