During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide and Student Page, can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Psalm 86:11
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart.
Psalm 15:1–2
An undivided heart—that is what it means to walk with integrity. The word for integrity means wholeness or completeness. Someone who has integrity is the same in every circumstance. It means he is trustworthy. This is the person that God says can approach Him.
Take a few moments to consider: Are you living with an undivided heart? Are you trustworthy because you do and say the same things, whether or not someone is watching? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if you have a divided heart in any area. Allow Him to fill you with the power to be a trustworthy person of integrity that He can use in the children’s lives.
Encourage the families to ask their children what one thing of integrity they are practicing this week. Perhaps the families will practice that same thing too!
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet your children by name if possible as they come to class. When you know their names, you communicate that you value them.
Last class we learned about integrity. Remember that a person with integrity demonstrates trustworthiness by doing what is right, even when no one is looking.
Ask the children to think of examples of people who showed integrity. Their examples can be from something they themselves saw or something they saw or heard in the news. Perhaps someone helped another person or returned something that was lost rather than keeping it. Tell them not to share names, just what they saw. Be prepared to share an example to get them started. For example, you might say, “I saw a child return a piece of fruit that had rolled away from someone.” Ask children to stand up when they have an example to share. Call on students who stand to share.
Optional Supplies: Have the children do the same activity using newspapers or news magazines. They will look for pictures, stories, or headlines of people who showed integrity by doing or saying what was right, even when no one was looking.
Sometimes it is easier to understand ideas such as integrity and trustworthiness when you hear a story about them. Listen to this story about someone who showed he was trustworthy. At the end, I will ask you what you learned about trustworthiness from this story.
It was an important football game, and the ball was heading straight for the goal. Joseph was standing in front of the net, ready to stop the ball. As the goalie, he was the only player who could stop the ball and help his team to win the game. The player from the other team kicked the ball towards him. Joseph jumped into the air to grab the ball, but he missed it and the ball flew into the net.
Joseph and the other players expected to hear the referee shout, “Goal!” But instead, he blew his whistle. The referee said the goal would not count because the ball had touched the other player’s hands before it went in. Joseph had seen the whole play. He knew the player had not touched the ball. He politely told the referee that the goal was good. Joseph’s team lost the important game by 1 point.
Two weeks later, the same referee was the official at the championship game. Joseph’s team and the other team were tied at the end of the second half. A forward on the other team was kicking the ball toward the goal. Again, Joseph was the only player who stood between winning and losing the game. And again, Joseph jumped to catch the ball, and again it flew into the net.
“Goal!” yelled the referee. But Joseph’s coach waved his hands in the air on the sidelines. He told the referee he had seen the other player touch the ball with his hands.
The referee turned to Joseph. “Did you see the other player touch the ball?” the referee asked. Joseph nodded. The referee changed his decision and blew his whistle. The game went into overtime and Joseph’s team won the game 4 minutes later when they scored a goal.
When the coach of the other team asked the referee why he changed his decision, the referee said that he had learned to trust Joseph because of his honesty.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, allow your children to write their thoughts on their pages.
When Jesus lived on the earth, He often told stories or parables to teach us about living in ways that please God. Listen to this short story that He told about two sons.
Read the story directly from your Bible so the children understand this comes from the Bible.
There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?
Matthew 21:28–31
Children may disagree on the answer to this question. It is okay for them to struggle with this question!
Remember that integrity means you do and say what is right and what is true. In the story that Jesus told about the two sons, we see that one son at first said no, but then did go and do what was right. That son changed so that he could act with integrity. That is the wonderful thing— Jesus can help you change so that you can have integrity and be trustworthy even when you have not had integrity in the past.
The second son’s words sounded like he was doing the right thing, but his actions did not match his words. He did not act with integrity.
Have the children pair up with another child. Tell them you will read a statement about someone who did not act with integrity. They will talk with their partners about a way for that person to change to act with integrity.
A child was hungry and stole a piece of bread when the person eating lunch was not looking.
A boy had accidentally broken his uncle’s glasses. He was afraid of being punished, so he lied.
After a few minutes, pick 2 pairs to share their examples of how someone could change in order to have integrity.
Tell the children to quickly and quietly get into groups of 3–4 children. Each group will have 2 minutes to create a role-play showing someone who has a choice to show he is trustworthy. After 2 minutes, ask each group to pair up with another group and share with each other. This activity should only take about 10 minutes. After the activity, have the children sit down.
Living with integrity and being trustworthy is one way you can honour God. And He is the One who can help you live in this way. Listen to these verses about who can draw near to God:
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.
Psalm 15:1–5, NLT
Being a person of integrity does not mean you never make mistakes. It means that when you do make a mistake, you admit it instead of hiding it. That takes courage! It can be very difficult, if not impossible, to live this way by our own effort. But God has provided His Holy Spirit to all Christians to help them live this way.
I will now say some phrases from this psalm that tell you how God wants you to live. You will pick one to think about working on this week.
Point to different areas in your room as you read each sentence again. Tell the children to go to that area if that is what they want to do to practice having integrity this week. For example, point to the front of the room as you read, “Do what is right.” All the children who want to do what is right should go to that space. Repeat this with each sentence. Once the children are in groups, tell them to pray for each other to be able to live with integrity in that area.
Close your time by praying this blessing over your children:
Blessing: God will empower you to speak the truth, do what is right, keep your promises, not lie, and not speak evil of your friends. May His mighty Spirit remind you each day this week that you can do this through Him!
If you have time, share this song with your children to celebrate how great God is! Use this as your worship theme this quarter.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
