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, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources 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.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
Proverbs 3:27
Let your children’s families know that this week their children will learn about being kind with their actions. Encourage them to think of something they can do as a family to show kindness to someone else.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
As your children come to class today, greet each one by name if possible. Have the children stand in a circle. Give 2 or 3 children the opportunity to share what they did during the past week to fill up someone’s kindness basket. Encourage different children from last week to share.
What does the word “contagious” mean?
Allow 1–2 children to share their ideas, and then share that “contagious” means that something spreads easily from one person to another.
What are some things that are contagious?
Many diseases are contagious. In some cases, a sick person can spread a disease to someone else. Diseases are not the only things that are contagious. Some good things are also contagious. For example, kindness is contagious! Let’s play a game called contagious tag.
Clear an area and have the children spread out. Choose a child to be “It.” She will choose a strange action to do for the entire game. For example, she might flap her arms like wings, sing loudly, or cluck like a chicken. While doing her action, she will try to tag as many children as possible. Her action is contagious, so every child she tags must start doing the same action. Once a child is tagged, he will also try to tag other children who have not yet been tagged. The game ends when every child has been tagged and is doing the same contagious action. After the game is over, have the children sit down.
In our game, someone started doing something. Soon everyone was doing the same thing. The person had something that was contagious. Kindness is like those contagious actions. When we act kindly, other people are inspired to also act kindly. Kindness is contagious! In today’s Bible story, you will see that one person’s kindness produced kindness in someone else.
Explain that you will tell a Bible story about a young woman who showed kindness to her mother-in-law through her actions. Before you start, choose a girl to represent Ruth. As she listens to the story, she will think about how she would feel or think if she were Ruth. At the end of the story, the other children will ask her questions about her part in this story. There are 3 suggested questions after the story, but it is more fun if the children can come up with their own.
Optional: If possible, share the images from The Action Bible.
There was a famine in the land of Judah. Because of this, an Israelite man took his wife, Naomi, and 2 sons to the country of Moab. While they lived there, the sons married Moabite women. Sadly, the father and both sons died in Moab.
Naomi and her 2 daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, were left as widows. Naomi heard that the famine in Judah was over, so she decided to return to her home. She told Ruth and Orpah, “Please, go back to your families. May the Lord be kind to you as you have been kind to me. May the Lord grant that each of you find another husband.”
Orpah was sad to leave Naomi, but she stayed with her people in her home of Moab. But Ruth clung to Naomi and refused to leave her. She said, “Do not tell me to leave you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die.”
So, Naomi and Ruth travelled together to the land of Judah. When they arrived in Naomi’s home village of Bethlehem, it was harvest time. They were very poor widows. Ruth knew that the poor were allowed to gather grain that the harvesters had missed. Because Ruth loved Naomi, she volunteered to go to the fields to gather the leftover grain for them to eat.
Ruth honoured her mother-in-law, loved her, and took care of her. Ruth worked in the fields owned by a man named Boaz. He was an older man who loved God. Boaz had heard about how Ruth had left her homeland and followed Naomi to a new country. Listen to what Boaz said
to Ruth.
I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
Ruth 2:11–12
Boaz told his workers to watch over Ruth. He offered her food and protection from anyone who might want to hurt her.
Boaz knew that Naomi was one of his relatives. Do you know what happened? Boaz sought permission to marry Ruth, and he also took care of Naomi, even though he was not required to. When Boaz and Ruth had a baby boy, Naomi rejoiced. God rewarded Ruth’s kindness.
Optional: If you are using The Action Bible the children can read the story on pages 242–247.
Ruth showed kindness to Naomi through her actions. What kind things did Ruth do
for Naomi?
She went back to Judah with her. She worked hard in the fields gathering food for Naomi and her to eat.
Boaz admired Ruth’s kindness toward Naomi. In turn, he treated Ruth with kindness. What kind things did Boaz do for Ruth?
He provided for her. He protected her. He eventually married her.
Do you think kindness was contagious in this story? Why or why not?
Ask the girl who is playing “Ruth” the questions below. The girl should answer as if she really were Ruth! Her answers will be her own ideas as the Bible does not tell us what Ruth was thinking or feeling. The purpose of this activity is to help the children relate to the Bible characters as real people.
The Bible does not tell us what Naomi was like. Ruth, why did you love her so much?
The Bible does not give us any details about the trip to Judah. Naomi was old. Ruth, what are some things you did to make the trip easier for Naomi?
Ruth, were you surprised by Boaz’s kindness to you? Why or why not?
Allow the other children to ask any other questions they might have. Thank the girl who played the part of Ruth.
In today’s story, Ruth showed kindness to Naomi through her actions. Boaz showed kindness to Ruth through his actions. God wants us to do the same. Listen to this verse from Proverbs:
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
Proverbs 3:27
What do you think it means to “withhold good” from someone?
Allow the children to offer their ideas.
Withholding good means choosing not to show kindness when it is possible to be kind. Imagine that you are walking down the street and you see an elderly woman carrying 2 heavy bags. You have the power to do something good—help this woman. If you walk by her without offering to help, you miss an opportunity to be kind with your actions. However, if you offer to carry her bags, you show kindness through your actions.
Think of someone you can show kindness to through your actions this week.
Pause for children to think quietly.
What are some ways you can show this person kindness?
Call on 1–2 children to share their ideas with the class. Tell the class that everyone will get a chance to share his idea during the next activity.
The tag game we played at the beginning of class taught us that kindness can be contagious! Being kind to someone does not end with that single act of kindness. It keeps going. Your kindness to someone may encourage her to be kind to someone else. It is like a kindness chain. This week, try to be kind—even if you do not feel like it—and keep the kindness chain going!
Tell the children that they will now create a kindness chain. Have the children sit wherever they want on the floor. Start by stating a kind action you will do this week. As you share about your kind action, walk among the sitting children. Tap a child on the shoulder. He will stand up and join hands with you. That child will say a kind thing he will do this week. Then he will tap another child, who will join the chain. Repeat until everyone has joined the chain. Continue to wander around your meeting space as the kindness chain grows. Once everyone has joined the chain, stop and lift your hands together in the air as you shout this prayer: “God, help us show kindness this week!”
Optional Supplies:
Give each child a strip of paper and a pencil.
We will make a kindness chain. Think of 1 kind thing you will do for someone this week and write it on your strip of paper. If you think of more than 1 kind thing you want to do, write them on additional strips of paper. Let’s see how long our kindness chain gets.
When the children have finished writing their ideas, tape a strip into a loop. Add another strip by threading it through the first loop and taping it into a loop. Continue until all the strips are part of the chain. Hang your chain in your class area.
If you are using Student Pages, there is space for the children to create kindness action plans.
End of Option
Close class by speaking the following blessing from Ruth 2:12 over the children.
Blessing: May you know God’s kindness toward you. Then you can spread kindness to others with your actions. Then may the Lord repay you richly for your kind actions to others.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
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.
