“Fruits of the Spirit”

FHE Lesson
by Kim Simkins, Digitized and adapted by Lara Goold

Materials needed: Scriptures, “Deception cookies” (or alternate—see preparation in outline and recipe for more details)

Purpose: A lesson designed to teach family members to recognize the difference between good “fruits”, which are
from God, and bad “fruits”, which are from Satan.

Preparation: Bake cookies according to directions before lesson begins. If you don’t have the time for baking cookies,
then buy some Oreos, split them in half, and add salt (or baking soda) to the cream filling, then carefully
replace the tops again. You want them to look as normal and unadulterated as possible. Then make 2
plates of cookies—one with the “bad” cookies, but with a higher quantity of cookies—one with the
“good”/normal cookies, but only one or few on the plate.

Scripture: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:20

Opening song(s) and prayer:

“I Am Like a Star,” Children’s Songbook, page 163

Lesson:

Cookie Object Lesson:

Begin by displaying the 2 trees (without the labels). Place the “good” plate of cookie(s) on one
tree and the “bad” plate of cookies on the other tree, not indicating which is which.

NOTE: You’ll want to make sure that the you only place 1 or 2 cookies on the good plate and
several cookies on the other plate. You want them to be enticed to choose the bad plate.

Ask your family which cookie tree they would like to have growing a their house?
If your family is like most, they will choose the tree with the greater number of cookies on it.
Now offer them the cookies from the tree they have chosen (hopefully the “bad” ones). You
may want to give them some kind of incentive for the children all eating their cookies at the
same time (“first one done, gets an extra cookie” or something of the sort)

Watch and wait (and try to keep from laughing too hard).

After they have all had drinks of water to rinse their mouths out, ask them what they thought
about the “fruit” of that tree. It looked good from the outside, but in reality, it tasted awful.
Offer them the normal/”good” cookies as a peace offering and continue on with the lesson.

Good Fruit/Bad Fruit Tree Analogy:

Ask your family, “Which tree had the better fruit?” Place the “GOOD” label on one tree and the
“BAD” label over the other tree.

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 READ Matthew 7:15-20 and discuss with your family.

Remind them that the cookies all looked good from the outside, but some of them were “wolves
in sheep’s clothing.”

Introduce the next activity by telling your family that they’re going to learn in more detail what
the scriptures mean by good fruits and bad fruits.

Read Galatians 5:22-23

Tree Activity
Place the apples in a bowl or basket and allow family members to take turns choosing an apple
and deciding which tree it belongs to, the “GOOD” or the “BAD”. Discuss as you go along.
Use the blank apples to write down and discuss other “fruits” relating specifically to your
family.

NOTE: To preserve a peaceful spirit I recommend not focusing on the negative or on singling
out the bad behavior of one child. It’s okay to mention things that your family can work on in
general, but in my experience singling out one child in a family setting is rarely productive and
will probably result in hurt feelings.

READ Alma 5:40.

Relate: When we allow ourselves to be contentious, selfish, jealous, etc., we, in a sense, are
partaking of the “corrupt fruit” of the devil.

Point out that we need to recognize the fruits of the devil so that we can avoid them and also
recognize the fruits of the spirit, so that we can seek after those fruits.

Ask: How can we apply the knowledge of the fruits of the spirit in our lives?

Some answers may include:

Choosing with whom you associate (based on their fruits)
The power of example (people judge you and the gospel based on the way they see you live your
life [your fruits])
Trying to develop Christ-like attributes in our lives
Treat others the way you would like to be treated
Trying to avoid the bad fruits

Emphasize that just as with the cookies, it is not possible to determine whether someone is
displaying “good fruits” or “bad fruits” based on their appearance. You have to actually look at
their “fruit” (actions).

Read Moroni 7:16-17 and conclude the lesson with your hope that we can seek after the good
fruit and follow Jesus Christ.

Bear Testimony of the blessings that come from seeking after the fruits of the Spirit.

Closing song: “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus,” Children’s Songbook, page 78-79

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Closing Prayer:

Refreshments: See below for a yummy recipe

Enrichment: Based on the ages and attention spans of your children, choose one or more of the following enrichment
activities to enhance the message of the lesson. Enrichment activities do not necessarily need to be completed on the
same night as the lesson. We often use them as reinforcement/reminders during the week.

Enrichment ideas :

More Scriptures to discuss: Alma 5:36, Colossians 1:8-12, Article of Faith #13, D & C 6:33

My Morning Thought (for younger kids): Read this short poem (with visuals) about trying to choose
the right.

Conference Talk: Read, “O, the Cunning Plan of the Evil One” by Elder M. Russell Ballard and
discuss his comparison to fly fishing and the deceptions of Satan. Discuss how Satan tries very hard to
make evil look appealing. http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-34,00.html

Snickerdoodles/Deception Cookies (with special instructions for lesson)

From http://recipeshoebox.blogspot.com.

The ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (for rolling)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (for rolling)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400° F.
-Cream together butter, shortening, 1-1/2 cups sugar, the eggs, and vanilla.
-Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Reserve ¾ cup dough and place in small bowl. Add enough extra salt and a good tablespoon of baking soda to make these cookies
taste awful. Shape this dough as you do the rest of the cookies. When finished baking, instead of rolling them in the sugar/cinnamon
mixture, make a salt/cinnamon mixture with the same proportions.
Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
-Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. (and for the bad cookies use 2 tablespoons SALT and cinnamon instead) Roll balls of
dough in mixture.
-Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7-10 minutes or until set, but not too hard. Enjoy!

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For
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 Labels for trees and blank apples for fruit and tree activity

GOOD

BAD

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 Long
Love Peace Joy suffering

Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness

Temperance Jealousy Bitterness Disobedience


 Hatred 


Pride Hatred Arguing Lying

!
Hatred

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 My Morning Thought
Robin B. Lambert, “My Morning Thought,” Friend, Sep 1997, 27

As I woke up this morning

and climbed out of bed,
A thought of the Savior
came into my head.
It gave me a smile
to start off the day
And helped me make choices
as I went on my way.
I cheered up a friend
who’d been lonely and sad.
I took out the garbage,
even though it smelled bad!
At the store, I wanted
some gum to chew.
I had no money,
so what did I do?
I thought of Jesus Christ,
as I had in my bed;
“Thou shalt not steal,”
I knew He had said.
So instead I went home,
feeling light as a breeze,
For I knew I did right
and that He would be pleased.

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My Morning Thought—pictures

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 “The Lord said to the people in his day, and to us too: “By their
fruits ye shall know them.”

“For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

“… Every tree is known by his own fruit.”

May I suggest a formula for bringing forth good fruit and

helping one to gain eternal salvation? (1) have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and in yourself, (2) study eternal truths, (3) ponder
and pray for understanding, (4) strive to incorporate principles of
truth into daily living, (5) exercise integrity in all that you do, and
(6) strive to do everything you do to a standard of excellence.”

Quote for the week

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