This is the seventh Bible lesson in our series based on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Each particular lesson plan explains a specific character quality that God creates in us through his Spirit. These lessons are designed to accompany the printable Fruit of the Spirit coloring book from our website. Click here to see all the lessons in this series.
Suggested Age Group: 1rst-3rd Grades
Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 89:1, 1 Samuel 12:24, Psalm 37:3, Romans 3:3-4
Exegetical Idea: Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, available to all believers as they abide in Christ.
Pedagogical Idea: As believers, we are able to display the fruit of faithfulness as we abide and trust in Christ.
Cognitive Aim: Children will know faithfulness is modeled most greatly by our God, is made possible through Christ, and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Affective Aim: Children will feel confident of God’s faithfulness to them, even when they are faithless.
Behavioral Aim: Children will memorize 1 Samuel 12:24.
Memory Verse: 1 Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” (ESV)
Lesson Overview
- Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes) Description: Discover what Fruit of the Spirit today’s lesson is about. Supplies: chalk/marker board with Galatians 5:22-23 written out, sports paraphernalia from your town’s favorite team (or the school team your students play on/support.)
- God Revealed (15 minutes) Description: Look to God’s Word to discover what He says about faithfulness. Supplies: Bible, chalk/marker board (write out verse references on board)
- Personal Pursuit (10-15 minutes) Description: Discover more about faithfulness through activities. Supplies: Adjectives and actions that describe a faithful person and an unfaithful person written out on rectangles of paper (10-15, for example: keeps their word, breaks a promise, worships God daily, never prays, etc); a large sign that say “Faithful” and one that says “Unfaithful” taped to the wall; tape; faithfulness coloring sheets found here: Fruit of the Spirit
- Daily Knowing (7-10 minutes) Description: Memorize 1 Samuel 12:24, pray together. Supplies: Notecards with memory verse written out for parents.
**For the Fruit of the Spirit lessons, you could make a tree for the wall labeled “believer” or “Christian.” Each week you can add the particular attribute you are teaching about. This week, you would add “faithfulness,” allowing a child to place it on the branch of the tree. I would encourage you to only use one type of fruit (if you are writing each virtue on a fruit), for though there are several virtues produced by the Spirit, they are all one type of fruit: the Fruit of the Spirit. There are also several object lessons and activities on the website that would complement this lesson if you have more time with your children. Many activities over the fruit of the Spirit would work well as the children are arriving.
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes)
- DO: Set out all of the sports paraphernalia before your students arrive.
- ASK: How many of you have a favorite sports team? How do you support your team? How do we support [Your students’ team]? What happens when our team loses? Do we start cheering for the other side? Why not? (We are loyal to our team.)
- SAY: No matter what, we will always support [ ]! They are our team. We are loyal to them. We believe in them. We cheer for them when they win and when they lose!
- ASK: Can you find a Fruit of the Spirit listed on the board that describes our loyalty to our team? (Point it out if they do not make the connection.) Can anyone describe faithfulness to me?
- SAY: Faithfulness is a lot like loyalty…but goes much deeper. If the Bible tells us we are to be faithful, we should search to discover what that means! How can we discover more about faithfulness? By looking in God’s Word! Let’s go to His Word now and see what He will reveal to us about faithfulness.
2. God Revealed (15 minutes)
- DO: Begin by reading together Galatians 5:22-23.
- SAY: The Bible tells us in this passage that faithfulness is a Fruit of the Spirit. If we are saved, the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, and we can be people who overflow with faithfulness! This does not mean that we will be faithful all the time. But as we come to know God more and more, we change! Faithfulness becomes part of who we are. With the Spirit living inside of us, He gives us the power to be faithful!
- Read Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (ESV)
- SAY: This verse is said over and over again in the Bible! What does it tell us about God? (He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness.) God abounds with faithfulness! This means it overflows from Him. (Possible demonstration here of pouring water into a glass and allowing it to overflow.) This is who our God is and why this verse is repeated so many times in the Bible. God is showing us how important it is that we believe in who He is. Our God is a faithful God! It is only from Him that we learn how to be faithful people.
- Read Psalm 100:5, “For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (ESV)
- SAY: God’s faithfulness endures to all generations. This means it is not just for grandparents or your parents. God was faithful to your great, great grandparents, your great grandparents, and is faithful to you, your children, your grandchildren, your great, great grandchildren, and even your great, great, great, great, great grandchildren! God’s faithfulness is for all generations, past, present, and future!
- Read Psalm 89:1, “I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” (ESV)
- SAY: We know that God’s faithfulness is to all generations, but what does this verse tell us to do? (Tell all generations about His faithfulness!) As God’s people, we should be using our mouths to tell everyone about who God is, about His faithfulness!
- Read 1 Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” (ESV)
- SAY: The Bible tells us in many, many verses to be faithful to our God. One of the main ways the Fruit of faithfulness is displayed in our lives as believers is by our faithfulness to Him. So how do we show faithfulness to God? (Worshipping Him, obeying His Word, knowing His Word, praying to Him, etc.)
- Read Psalm 37:3, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (ESV)
- SAY: So the Bible tells us that faithfulness is part of who we are as we abide in Christ. What does this verse tell us about faithfulness? What do you think it means to “befriend” faithfulness? (Allow time for their thoughts.) When you make a new friend, you have to spend time and energy making the friendship grow. You have to cultivate a friendship, like you would grow a plant. We are to cultivate faithfulness within ourselves. This means intentionally being faithful to your family, your friends, and to our God. This also means praying for faithfulness to overflow in your heart, studying faithfulness in Scripture, and getting to know our faithful God who is our only perfect example of faithfulness!
3. Personal Pursuit (10-15 minutes)
- Do: Choose a volunteer to read the following scenario: A young girl stops talking to her friend. She stops spending time with her entirely. At school, she talks badly and lies about her friend whom she used to love. She ignores her, betrays her, and is completely unfaithful to her. What would you do if this were your friend? (Allow time for response and Discussion.)
- DO: Choose another volunteer. Have them read Romans 3:3-4, “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar…”
- ASK: What is God’s response to us when we are unfaithful? (He is still faithful!) No matter what we do, our God will always be faithful to us as His people, just as we would never stop supporting our home team. He will always keep His Word; His promises will never be broken. If we are to follow God’s example of faithfulness, how should we respond to an unfaithful friend? (Continue to be faithful to them.)
- SAY: Now that we have talked a little more about faithfulness, let’s get specific! We are going to do an activity that helps us understand what a faithful person does and does not do.
- DO: Scatter out the descriptive words and actions on a table or the floor. Have the children decide which characteristics go under faithful and which go under unfaithful. Once they decide, they need to run and tape it under the correct column (faithful and unfaithful). After they are done, read all of the characteristics out loud under each label.
- SAY: I want everyone to close their eyes for a moment and think about the words we just read aloud. Which column describes you? If we were to know everything you did and said this last week, would your life show that you are faithful to our God? Are you faithful to your family, your friends? Or are you unfaithful? (Be silent for 20 seconds or more.) Okay. Open your eyes. Even if your life is now showing you to be an unfaithful person, you have great hope! Christ died so that we may know God. As we know God more and more, we are able to become more like Him. We begin to display the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If you are not displaying faithfulness yet, keep spending time with our faithful God! He will change you and form you into a person of great faithfulness, faithfulness to Him and faithfulness to others! And no matter how unfaithful we are to God, His faithfulness towards you will never ever change. He is always faithful! Everything He says, He will do. Every promise He makes, He will keep.
4. Daily Knowing (7-10 minutes)
- SAY: I want us to memorize together 1 Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” (ESV) (Use hand motions to help them memorize or write it on the board, erasing one word at a time until everyone is able to say it together without seeing it.)
- Spend time in prayer together. Remember the specific situations your children are going through. Invite them to share their needs and praises. Praise God for the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, the faithfulness we are able to have because He lives within us and for His great faithfulness to us.
- Encourage the parents to work on this verse with their children. Send a notecard home with each parent with the verse written on it.