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.
There is a time to be silent. And there’s a time to speak.
Ecclesiastes 3:7
Do you want to honour God? Tell the truth and live in honest ways. That is great advice, right? What about the times when you face a situation where telling everything you know would cause you or others to be hurt? How honest does God want you to be with that person?
God hates lies and loves the truth. However, that does not mean that we have to tell everyone everything about ourselves and our families. This verse from Ecclesiastes tells us that there are times when we should be silent. When we listen to God, it is good to be silent. Could we also be silent when we are asked by dangerous people to provide information? Those who wish to do evil do not need to know everything about us and our families. Of course, silence could also produce its own dangers. It is in these times that we must pray for God’s guidance. He can show us how to respond wisely in all situations.
Encourage families to talk to their children about information that does not need to be shared with everyone. Create a list of safe people and a list of people who are not safe to talk to.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
As the children come to class, greet each child and ask him what honesty means. Ask the children to sit in 2 separate groups as they enter the teaching space today.
As you entered today, I asked you to tell me what the word “honesty” means. The last few weeks you have learned a lot about honesty. Today, we will start with a game to help you remember some information about truth and honesty.
The children in the group to my right will be Team Joy. The children to my left will be Team Hope. Both teams will take turns answering questions about truth and honesty. Each time a team answers a question correctly, I will give it 1 point. Team Joy will go first. I will give this team 30 seconds to answer my first question. You must talk together as a team and come up with only 1 answer.
For each question, award 1 point to the team that gives the correct response. If neither team answers correctly, do not give a point to either team. The children’s answers may vary slightly from the words used in the suggested responses provided.
The truth includes real facts and information about a thing, person, or event.
If Team Joy does not answer correctly, repeat the question and give Team Hope 30 seconds to respond. Award 1 point to the team that gave the correct response. If neither team answered correctly, do not give a point to either team. Repeat this process for each question.
It means talking about the events that actually happened to him or to someone else, in the way that they happened.
Honesty means wanting to tell the truth and do the right thing.
Answers may include: God wants us to be honest. Honesty builds relationships. Honesty helps people to trust us.
Your brain, mouth, and heart.
There are many possible answers to this question. Any correct answer should make sense.
Congratulate both teams for playing well. Announce which team won with the most points.
You have learned a lot about truth and honesty the last few weeks. You learned that God likes the truth and hates evil. Lies can come in many forms. Not saying anything can be the same as lying.
Let me give you an example. Let’s pretend your little sister is missing her doll. You know where it is. But, you do not tell her when she asks you to help her find it because you do not want to get in trouble for ripping it. If you choose not to tell her where the doll is, you are lying to her.
However, there are times when sharing certain information could put you or others in danger. Listen to this example.
A man you do not know asks you where you live. He says he knows your mother, but you have never seen him before. You notice he does not ask for your mother by name and he does not call you by your name.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
You should not tell someone you do not know where you live. If you think someone might want to hurt you or members of your family, she does not need to know everything about you and your family. That does not mean you should lie about yourself, your family, or where you live. When it is safe to do so, you may choose not to tell people information that might create a dangerous situation. The Bible talks about speaking when the time is right:
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
Those who guard what they say guard their lives. But those who speak without thinking will be destroyed.
Proverbs 13:3
Sometimes, talking too much is not safe, especially when people do not need to know things. The Bible tells a true story about a mother and her daughter who did not share information that could have put them in danger.
If you are using the images from The Action Bible, show them as you tell the story.
The story begins in Egypt during a time when God’s people—also known as Hebrews—were slaves there. The king of Egypt—called a pharaoh—sent out an order to his people. Listen to what he said.
Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people. He said, “You must throw every Hebrew baby boy into the Nile River. But let every Hebrew baby girl live.”
Exodus 1:22
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Answers may include: she would feel scared, she would be sad, or she would try not to feel anything.
It was during this time that a Hebrew woman gave birth to a baby boy. She and her husband hid their baby boy from Pharaoh for 3 months. Then the woman felt she could no longer hide her son at home. She made a basket that would float and placed her son in it. Then she placed the basket with the baby into some reeds at the edge of a nearby river. The baby’s sister stayed near the river to watch.
If possible, show The Action Bible images as you tell the story.
Pharaoh’s daughter was at the river when she saw the basket with the baby. She knew the baby was Hebrew, and she felt sad for him. The baby’s sister came and asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she needed a Hebrew woman to come and feed the baby for her.
This is what Pharaoh’s daughter replied:
“Yes. Go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and feed him for me. I’ll pay you.” So the woman took the baby and fed him.
Exodus 2:8–9
We see that both the mother and the baby’s sister did not tell Pharaoh’s daughter all of the information they knew. The baby’s sister offered to find someone to care for him, but she did not tell that the woman was the boy’s mother.
No.
Answers may include: She could have been in trouble for keeping her baby alive. She may not have been allowed to take care of her baby. The baby may have been killed.
We do not know for sure what would have happened because the Bible does not tell us. But we can guess that the mother could have been in a lot of trouble for letting her baby live. So, she did not tell the Pharaoh’s daughter who she was. Also, the baby boy might not have lived if Pharaoh’s daughter had known who his mother was. It would have been dangerous for both the boy’s sister and his mother to tell the Egyptian princess who they were because they were part of the family that kept the baby boy alive. The baby’s family only told Pharaoh’s daughter the information they thought she needed to know.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons to colour the people. Allow them to cut or tear out the people pictures. Then, give them 2 minutes to act out the story of baby Moses.
Pharaoh’s daughter named the baby boy Moses. He became a great leader among God’s people. God worked through Moses to free His people from slavery. Moses led them out of Egypt and through a desert to the land God had promised to give them. God kept Moses safe and helped him to grow up to become someone great.
Teacher Tip: It is important for children to understand that God wants us to be honest and truthful. However, if children have experienced situations in which they were in great danger, they may have lied to try to protect themselves and those they love. It is important that these children know God understands their situations and cares about them. Encourage them that He can help them be honest and be safe too!
Being honest does not mean you must tell people things they do not need to know when you are in dangerous situations. However, lying about who you are and where you live is still wrong. Not telling everyone everything about yourself and your family is not wrong.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
People, especially those you think might hurt you, do not need to know the following information:
If you are not sure what you should tell someone, ask yourself these questions:
If the answers to any of these questions make you feel you should not share the information someone has asked for, do not share it.
There are people who do not need to know some things about you or your family and friends. Not sharing certain information can help to keep you and others safe.
Create groups of 4–5 children.
Let’s practice what you have learned about when to share information about you and your family. I will give you a situation. You will act it out in your groups. Then, you will act out how you would use truth and honesty to respond.
Situation 1: You are at the market with your brother. Suddenly, many pieces of fruit start to roll off a table. You and your brother walk over to help put the fruit back. The seller thanks you and asks you to bring your mother to the market so that she can talk to her.
Remember to ask yourself:
Allow 2 minutes for the children to act out the situation and their responses.
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Guide them to understand that because they helped the woman, she is in a place with a lot of people, and the mother would be coming back with the children, it is safe to bring the mother to meet her.
Situation 2: A friend of your mother is looking for her. He asks you to tell him where she is. He looks very angry. You worry he might hurt your mother.
Remember to ask yourself:
Allow 2 minutes for the children to act out the situation and their responses.
Allow 2–3 children to respond. If a child answers with something that is not true, gently tell him that his ideas might keep everyone safe, but what he said is not true.
If you do not know where your mother is, you can tell him this. If you know where your mother is, you may choose whether or not to tell him where she is. You may choose to tell him something like, “She is not home right now” if you know this is true. Remember, whatever you say in a difficult or even dangerous situation, God knows what is in your heart. He knows the way you want to live. Today’s memory verse reminds us to speak the truth.
Show the Memory Verse poster if you are using it.
My God, I know that you tested our hearts. And you are pleased when we are honest.
1 Chronicles 29:17a
Sing the words to the Bible verse with the children. Use the same song you created in Lesson 5. Have the children repeat the song with you 3 times.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Proverbs 13:3 and Job 33:3, over the children.
Blessing: May God give you wisdom to know when to speak and when not to. May God know what is in your heart.
Lead the students 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.
