I received a copy of Growing the Fruit of the Spirit: A Guide for Family Bible Time by Kris M. Cox and Kris Hage to review with my family. This is a 326-page spiral-bound book. There are ten chapters in the book, and each chapter has five lessons. The first chapter of the book is an introduction to the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23. The remaining nine chapters cover each of the fruits listed in the Bible verse. The cost of the book is $29.00, and that includes sales tax. 

I used this book as our Bible study time during our homeschool day. This book could be used in homeschool, as a family devotional, in a church group, or by anyone wanting to learn more about the fruits of the Spirit. This study can be completed with one lesson each weekday for ten weeks or at your own pace. In each chapter, there is a Bible verse to memorize, and that Bible verse is repeated in each lesson with Memory Verse Activities to help encourage memorization. Each lesson has a devotional or study to read and discuss. At the end of each lesson, there are activities to choose from to further understand and remember the Bible verse. These activities include options for all ages. 

I am working through this Bible study with my two sons, ages four and five. We are currently about halfway through and have enjoyed learning more about the fruit of the Spirit. The lessons are an ideal length to keep my son’s attention. We usually read through the lesson and work on the memory verse during lunch, then complete the activity after lunch. I have found an activity with each lesson that is great for my kids’ ages and abilities. Some examples of the activities are making an “I am thankful” jar, make a gratitude collage, make thank you notes, play the gratitude game, or color the following picture.  These examples are from Chapter three, lesson two, about the fruit of the Spirit that is Joy. My sons especially enjoyed the Gratitude Game, which involved sharing something they were thankful for based on the color of M&M they picked from a jar.

I would recommend this product to homeschoolers or anyone else who would like to study the fruit of the Spirit with their family. We have enjoyed this study, and I plan to incorporate it into our homeschool every other year as my children get older. Having activities in each lesson for various ages is beneficial for repeating the lessons with new activities as my kids get older.    

Product review by Heather Wise, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March 2021

2022 UPDATE Hands-on activity options added for language arts, science, history, physical education, art, music, and math for pre-K to sixth grade.