New to Branch to Hope? Here’s How to Get Started and Make the BTH Fruit of the Spirit App Part of Your Day
Maybe you just downloaded the Branch to Hope Fruit of the Spirit app after hearing about it from a friend, discovering us on social media, or finding one of our resources online. First of all, welcome, we’re so glad you’re here to start your Fruit of the Spirit Journey.
Branch to Hope was created around a simple idea: growing in faith doesn’t have to feel complicated. Small, intentional choices made consistently can change the way we think, respond, pray, and interact with the people around us. That belief is at the heart of everything we do and the reason behind one of our favorite reminders: New Habits Create Change.
The Branch to Hope app brings those habits together in one place, with practical tools designed to help you grow in the Fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If you’re new to the app and wondering where to begin, you don’t need to explore everything at once. Start small, find a rhythm that works for you, and allow Branch to Hope to become a simple part of your everyday walk with God.
Start With the Color of the Day
One of the easiest ways to begin is with our Color of the Day. Each of the nine Fruits of the Spirit is represented by a color: Love is red, Joy is blue, Peace is green, Patience is pink, Kindness is yellow, Goodness is brown, Faithfulness is purple, Gentleness is silver or gray, and Self-Control is orange.
The colors aren’t meant to replace Scripture. Instead, they serve as visual reminders that help us carry Scripture into everyday life. When you see your Color of the Day, it gives you something practical to consider: How can I intentionally live this fruit today?
If today’s focus is kindness, you might look for someone who needs encouragement. If it’s patience, you may become more aware of how you respond when plans change or someone tests your patience. If it’s joy, you can intentionally look for God’s goodness even when your circumstances aren’t perfect.
This is what we mean when we say: Wear the Color. Walk the Word.
We’re taking what we read in God’s Word and looking for opportunities to actually live it.
Make 1:11 Your Daily Pause
Life gets busy quickly. We can begin the morning with every intention of spending time with God, only to look up hours later and realize the entire day has gotten away from us. That’s why 1:11 p.m. has become such a meaningful part of the Branch to Hope rhythm.
When your 1:11 reminder appears, use it as an invitation to stop whatever you’re doing for just a moment and Pause + Pray. You don’t need perfect words or a long prayer. It can simply be a moment to thank God, pray for someone on your heart, surrender something you’ve been carrying, or ask Him to help you live today’s Fruit of the Spirit.
What begins as a notification can eventually become a habit. You may even find yourself noticing 1:11 before the reminder arrives. That’s the beauty of creating intentional spiritual rhythms. Over time, they begin to become part of who we are.
Listen for a Scripture Whisper
Sometimes we don’t need more noise. We simply need one truth from God’s Word that we can carry with us.Our Scripture Whisper is designed to provide those simple moments of biblical encouragement. Rather than feeling like you need to complete an entire study every time you open the app, you can pause with Scripture and allow God’s Word to speak into the day you’re actually experiencing.
Read it slowly. Think about what it means for your life today. Carry that thought with you and return to it when your day becomes busy, frustrating, or uncertain.
Sometimes a single verse remembered at exactly the right moment can change the way we respond to an entire situation.
Read the Daily Message—and Put It Into Practice
Branch to Hope isn’t just about learning the Fruit of the Spirit. We want to help you live it.
Our daily messages and devotionals connect biblical truth with real life because faith isn’t meant to stay inside an app, Bible study, or church building. It follows us into our homes, workplaces, schools, friendships, marriages, parenting, conversations, disappointments, and decisions.
As you read, ask yourself one simple question: “What can I do differently today because of what I just read?” That might mean sending an encouraging text, forgiving someone, choosing not to respond in anger, praying before making a decision, helping someone without expecting anything in return, or simply slowing down long enough to recognize where God is already at work.
Those seemingly small choices are where faith becomes action.
Pray With Others on the Prayer Wall
You weren’t created to walk through life alone, and prayer is one of the most meaningful ways we can support one another.
The Branch to Hope Prayer Wall provides a place to share prayer needs and pray alongside others in the community. You can bring something that’s weighing on your own heart or spend a few minutes praying for someone else. Sometimes the person who receives hope through prayer is the person asking for it. Other times, it’s the person who stops long enough to pray.
Either way, the Prayer Wall reminds us that there are real people behind every request and that our prayers can reach far beyond our own circumstances.
Take a Challenge and Build a New Habit
If you enjoy having a little more structure, explore the Branch to Hope Challenges. Throughout the year, we create experiences designed to help you intentionally focus on Scripture, the Fruit of the Spirit, prayer, and spiritual growth. A challenge gives you a starting point, a daily action, and something meaningful to work toward. More importantly, it helps turn good intentions into consistent habits.
Our goal isn’t for you to complete a challenge and then forget about it. We hope you’ll discover one or two practices along the way that become part of your life long after the challenge ends.
Because New Habits Create Change™.
Because New Habits Create Change.
Grow Together as a Family
Branch to Hope isn’t only about individual spiritual growth. We also want families and children to have practical, engaging ways to learn and live the Fruit of the Spirit together.
Through our family and homeschool resources, including Branchy & the Hope Grove Crew, children can begin understanding biblical character in an approachable and memorable way. Parents can use these resources to start meaningful conversations about what love, patience, kindness, self-control, and the other Fruits of the Spirit actually look like at home, at school, with siblings, and with friends.
The Fruit of the Spirit becomes especially powerful when children aren’t simply asked to memorize nine words but begin recognizing what those words look like in real life.
Explore Branch to Hope in Spanish
Our mission to help people grow in the Fruit of the Spirit extends beyond one language. Branch to Hope continues to expand its Spanish-language resources, making it easier for more individuals and families to experience Scripture, encouragement, and the Color of the Day in the language that feels most natural to them.
Whether you’re using Branch to Hope personally or sharing it with friends and family, explore the Spanish content available within the Branch to Hope experience.
There’s Even More to Explore
As you become familiar with Branch to Hope, you’ll discover even more ways to participate. You can explore seasonal challenges, family and homeschool resources, Spanish content, opportunities to become a Branch to Hope Ambassador, and additional tools designed to help individuals, families, churches, schools, and communities intentionally live the Fruit of the Spirit.
But here’s something important to remember: You don’t have to do everything on Day One.
In fact, we’d rather you choose one meaningful habit and actually practice it than try ten different things and become overwhelmed.
Branch to Hope is about progress, consistency, and allowing small intentional choices to become part of your everyday life with God.
Your First Week With Branch to Hope
If you’re wondering exactly where to start, keep your first week simple.
Each morning, open the app and discover the Color of the Day. Read the Scripture or daily message and think about one way you can intentionally live that fruit.
At 1:11 p.m., Pause + Pray. Then, before you go to bed, ask yourself one question:
“Where did I see the Fruit of the Spirit today?”
Maybe you saw it in yourself. Perhaps someone showed it to you. Maybe you missed an opportunity and realized how you’d like to respond differently next time. All three can become moments of growth.
Spiritual transformation isn’t about achieving perfection. It’s about continuing to turn toward Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, and becoming increasingly aware of opportunities to reflect His character in everyday life.
One App. Nine Fruits. Countless Opportunities to Grow.
Branch to Hope isn’t meant to become another app you download and eventually forget about. We hope it becomes a companion in your daily walk with God—a simple reminder to pause, pray, open Scripture, notice others, practice the Fruit of the Spirit, and intentionally carry hope into the places you already go.
You don’t need to change everything at once.
Start with one day.
One Scripture.
One prayer.
One fruit.
One intentional act.
Then come back tomorrow and do it again. Over time, those small choices become habits, and those habits begin changing the way we live.
New Habits Create Change.
Wear the Color. Walk the Word.
And wherever God places you today, look for an opportunity to be a branch of hope.