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.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
The disciples had been with Jesus for nearly 3 years. They had shared meals with Him and listened to Him teach. They had seen Him treat the sick with compassion and the outcasts with honour. Yet when people brought their children to Jesus for His blessing, the disciples wanted to send the parents and children away. Though the disciples had seen the way Jesus cared for others, they had not yet learned to see people as He did. They did not see the value God places on even His smallest creations—but they soon learned.
When you see a young child on the streets or hear a baby crying, what do you think? Do you feel compassion and love for these precious ones? Or do you find them a distraction, an unwanted responsibility, or the source of your impatience? Share your thoughts with God. Ask Him to give you His compassion for the youngest people in your life.
Encourage the students to ask their family members, “What was I like as a baby?” Then together they can think of ways to honour and care for the babies they know.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet teens by name as they arrive. Ask students, “What do you think it means to value someone?” Allow them to share with you and with others in the class.
As many of you shared, valuing someone means treating that person with care and honour. Today we will discuss what it means to value babies and very young children. Let’s start by thinking back to when we were very young.
Close your eyes and think about your earliest memory. What is the very first thing you remember about your life? When you have remembered something, open your eyes.
Would anyone like to share a memory?
Call on 2–3 teens to share their thoughts.
Most of our earliest memories are from when we were 2 to 5 years old. Before that, our brains are still forming, and they are absorbing so much new information that it is difficult to remember much! Even though we may not remember the first few years of our lives, everything that happened to us during that time is very important.
Your experiences during those early years affect the way you see yourself and your relationships with others. They have an impact on your physical health and the ways you learn. Your earliest experiences can have an effect on everything you experience for the rest of your life! They influence your ability to trust others, including God. Let’s play a game to understand more about learning to trust others.
Have the teens line up in 2 lines of equal numbers, facing each other. Stand at the end of one of the lines.
Everyone in my line, hold out your hands in front of you, with your palms facing down. Everyone in this line will be given a secret rule he or she must follow in the game.
Here are the 3 possible rules:
I will whisper 1 of these rules to the person next to me. Then that person will whisper 1 of those rules to the person next to him. It is his choice what rule the person next to him must follow. Continue until everyone in this line has been given a rule to follow.
Give the students in the line a minute to whisper their instructions to one another. Make sure every student in the line has received instructions before you continue with the explanation.
Those of you in the other line will hold your hands in front of you with your palms facing up, under the hands of the person who is across from you. When I tell you to begin, you will try to very quickly flip your hands over and slap the hands of the person across from you. Do not slap too hard! This game is to be fun, not hurtful!
Every time you successfully slap the other person’s hands, say, “Pow!” After the attempt at doing this, both of you place your hands in the same position and repeat this as many times as you can until I say, “Stop!” Count how many times you are able to slap the hands of the other person.
Give the teens 2 minutes to play. Then have students take a step to their right so they are across from a new partner. The teams will switch roles so that the line that was slapping is now receiving the slaps. Give the teens in the second line a secret rule to follow. Then play for another 2 minutes. When the game is over, ask the students to sit down.
If you had partners who always pulled their hands away, you probably felt frustrated. If you did not know if your partner would pull her hand away or not, you may have felt uncertain or maybe challenged. If you had partners who never pulled their hands away, you probably became confident. Every time you said, “Pow,” you probably felt a quick moment of positive emotion.
Babies need consistent love and care from their parents and those who care for them. When their needs are not met or are only met sometimes, they become frustrated. They may stop trusting the adults around them to take care of them. They often grow into people who do not expect kindness from anyone. But when a baby receives consistent love and care, she often grows into an emotionally and physically healthy person who trusts and loves others.
Today we will learn more about how God cares for babies and children and how we can too.
Babies are special. Even though they are very little and have lots of needs, they are people like you. However, they are not small adults. They cannot care for themselves, so they need others to care for them.
Though babies and young children need more care, they are just as valuable to God as all other people. The Bible tells us that God created all people in His image. From the baby in her mother’s womb to elderly men and women, every person is important from the moment she is created!
Do you believe that babies and children are created in the image of God? Why or why not?
How should this guide how we act toward them or think about them?
We should treat them with love because they are precious to God and should also be precious to us.
Listen to what the Bible teaches us about the value of children.
Have a student read Psalm 127:3 aloud from the Bible. If that is not possible, the verse is printed here.
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3
What do you think it means that children are a “heritage” and a “reward” from God?
Allow 2–3 teens to share their thoughts. Then guide them to understand that children are good gifts from God.
What does this teach us about the value of babies and children?
Allow 2–3 teens to share their thoughts. Then guide them to understand that babies and children are valuable to God and should be shown care and kindness.
Children are a reward from God! He loves them just as He loves all of us. Let’s read a true story about Jesus that shows us more about His love for children.
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Matthew 19:13–15
Optional: If you are using The NIV Action Study Bible, the teens can see drawings of this story after page 982 and read about how Jesus treated children in the “Unlock It” section on page 935.
Have students find partners.
Take turns retelling this Bible story with your partner.
Based on His actions and words, how do you think Jesus feels about young children?
Jesus loves and cares about little children!
What did Jesus do to show this?
He took time to show His care for them, He treated them with love and kindness, and He also blessed them.
Babies are precious, and God made them in amazing ways! Listen to these facts to understand how carefully and wonderfully they were made.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, have the students write what they have learned about caring for babies on their pages. They can also take notes on them for the next section of the lesson.
In your experience, what are some things babies need? How can you best meet those needs?
Allow the teens to share.
Some of you care for babies and young children every day, so you understand how important it is to care for little ones well. Even more of you will be parents, aunts, or uncles in the future, and you will need to practice these things too. It helps to plan how you will respond to a difficult situation before it happens, so let’s do that now.
Have students gather into groups of 3–4. Read the situation and have them discuss the best ways to respond with their groups.
Situation: You are married and have a newborn baby. You work hard all day, and you have to get up before sunrise. It is the middle of the night. Your spouse is very sick and cannot help with the baby. Your newborn baby starts crying louder and louder. What will you do?
Give students time to discuss their ideas with their groups. Then have the groups take turns sharing their ideas with the class. Continue until every idea has been shared. Be sure teens share ideas for meeting the baby’s physical needs, such as feeding and burping, as well as ideas to help them to treat the baby with kindness. Have them remain in their groups for the Responding activity.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
Sadly, some babies do not live very long. Because of this, some people may try not to love a new baby too deeply because they do not know how long the baby will live. That is understandable. It is very painful when a baby dies. However, every baby needs love and consistent care from the very beginning of her life. Even though babies cannot use words to tell you how they feel and what they need, they need to know that they are safe and loved. They need to know that someone will respond when they cry. God values every human life, no matter how young or old and no matter how long life is. Babies are a precious gift and are always worthy of our honour and care!
Think quietly about your answer to this question: How are babies and very young children usually treated in our community?
Think quietly about your answer: How do you act toward babies and young children? How do you speak to them? How do you speak about them to others? Do your words and actions show that you care for them?
Give students time to think quietly about their answers. Then have them discuss the following questions with their groups.
What are some things we have learned that can help you to treat the babies and young children you know considerately?
What are some things you can do to help those around you who are caring for babies and young children?
Invite a few groups to share 1 or 2 of their ideas with the whole class. Then close with a blessing based on Proverbs 17:6:
Blessing: May God help you to see every baby as a precious person created to reflect His glory! And may you show care and kindness for every child in your life now and in the future!
Lead the teens 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.
