Living Out the Fruit of the Spirit: For Kids + FamiliesSample

Kindness seems like a very simple thing, but it can be so powerful. Think of a time someone was kind to you. How did it make you feel? How did it change your day or your week?

We can be kind because God is kind, and the Bible tells us we are created in God’s image. That means that many of the traits God has, he’s given to us too—traits like kindness.

Colossians 3:12 tells us to put on kindness like we put on our clothes in the morning! What could that mean? Maybe it means that people should be able to see kindness in our lives, just like they can see the clothes we’re wearing. Kindness should be a way we express ourselves, just like we might express ourselves by wearing our favourite colour or a fun pattern.

One of the most powerful things about kindness is that it spreads. One random act of kindness can inspire another, and another, until the world is overflowing with kindness! One of the most powerful examples of this is when Compassion sponsored children grow up to sponsor a child of their own because they want to pass on the kindness they received as kids.

Aljon is a 23-year-old in the Philippines who was once a Compassion sponsored child. His dream is to one day sponsor children himself along with other graduates of Compassion’s program. “We received such a huge blessing as sponsored children, and we now want to give back by having sponsored kids of our own,” says Aljon.

Aljon is starting out by volunteering to write letters to sponsored kids whose sponsors can’t write to them. “It’s what I have always desired in my heart, to give back,” he says. What a powerful example of how the kindness of Aljon’s former sponsors has multiplied.

It’s a simple but powerful truth: kindness leads to more kindness! How can you start a chain reaction of kindness today?

Live it out: 

Think of an act of kindness you can do for or with your family, then do it! Make sure to ask an adult for help if you need it. Who knows? You might start a chain reaction of kindness today!

Prayer: 

Dear God, thank you for being kind to us and teaching us in the Bible how to be kind. Please show me ways I can be kind to others. Help me to start chain reactions of kindness wherever I go. Amen.