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.
You are God’s chosen people. You are holy and dearly loved. So put on tender mercy and kindness as if they were your clothes. Don’t be proud. Be gentle and patient.
Colossians 3:12
Being kind does not sound difficult, but it is not always easy. Think of a person who tests your patience. Why is it difficult to show patience and kindness to that person? Perhaps you become angry or frustrated whenever you see him. Whatever your reaction, know that God calls you to be patient and kind to that person.
How can you clothe yourself in mercy and kindness? What will you do to humble yourself and meet the needs of even the most difficult people in your life? Today’s Bible verse says that because God loves you, you also should love others. Acts of kindness are a great way to demonstrate love to others. Challenge yourself this week to put on clothes of kindness.
Encourage families to talk to their children about acts of kindness they see in their everyday lives. Have them talk about what makes the acts kind and how people respond when others are kind to them.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the children to class by asking them how their day is going. As the children enter, select 3 children to help you with the first activity. Ask the rest of the children to sit in a circle.
I am so happy you are all here today! We will start today with a fun game about kindness. Each of the children standing with me will act out a situation. I will then call on someone sitting in the circle to come and show kindness to that person. If you agree that the child I call on has shown kindness, jump up and wave your arms above your head. If you think the child did not show kindness, stay seated. After each answer, everyone will sit down again. Ready?
Choose 1 of the 3 standing children at a time. Whisper 1 of the actions that follow into the ear of that child. Then, allow 30 seconds for that child to act. Next, call on 1 of the seated children to respond in kindness. Pause for a moment before asking the 2 children to sit down and allow time for the rest of the class to respond.
You all did a good job picking out things that showed kind words and actions!
Today we will learn that sometimes when we are kind to people—even those who are unkind to us or those we do not like—it may help them learn to be kind too. Today, we will learn about how to use actions to show kindness to others.
Being kind to others might not always be easy, but it is possible and very important. When you show kindness to others, you also show your love for other people. The Bible tells us that God gave many commands to His people that told them how they should live. Many years after God gave these commands to His people, a man asked Jesus which one was the most important. Listen to Jesus’ answer:
Read the verses directly from your Bible.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.” And here is the second one. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” There is no commandment more important than these.
Mark 12:30–31
God wants us to love Him and to love others. Being kind to someone is a way to show love to that person. Jesus tells us that it is important to love others and ourselves. It is important for us to be kind both to ourselves and to our neighbors.
Allow 3–4 children to answer.
Listen to this story Jesus told to explain the answer to the question, “Who is your neighbor?”
Show the Action Bible images of the man hurt alongside the road if possible.
While walking down a road, a man was very badly hurt by some robbers who also took his clothes. They left him barely alive on the side of the road! The Bible does not tell us his name, so we will call him John Paul. A little while later, a Jewish priest passed by John Paul, but he did not help. Later, another important Jewish man walked by John Paul, but he did not help either.
Show the Action Bible images of the Samaritan helping the man if possible.
Finally, a Samaritan walked along the road and saw the man. During this time, Samaritans were hated by Jews. The Samaritan man did not care whether John Paul was a Samaritan, a Jew, or someone else. He felt bad for John Paul, and so he stopped to help him. The Samaritan cleaned and bandaged John Paul’s wounds. He took John Paul to an inn where he paid the innkeeper to take care of John Paul.
At the end of the story, Jesus asked a question. Listen to His question:
Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?
Luke 10:36
The Samaritan, or the third man was a neighbor to the man who was attacked.
Answers might include: He got him off the side of the road. He bandaged his wounds. He paid the innkeeper to watch over him.
Hold up the pictures from the tear-out page at the end of this lesson.
Who remembers the story and can help me tell it again using pictures? (Pause) I will show you all 3 pictures to help us retell the story. As you look at the pictures, try to remember what happened in the story.
Show the children 1 picture at a time. Be sure to go in order—1 being first and 3 being last. Have a different child volunteer to tell each part of the story.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, allow the students to color and cut or tear out the 2 people on the page. Then, ask them to act out the story.
In the story Jesus told, the Samaritan man was a good neighbor who was kind to the man on the road. It is good to use kind words, but we must also show others kindness through our actions. The Bible tells us:
Dear children, don’t just talk about love. Put your love into action. Then it will truly be love.
1 John 3:18
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Acting in kind ways towards another person shows love in action. We will now practice being kind to others.
Create groups of 3–4 children.
Let’s practice putting our love into action. I will read a situation to you. After the situation, I will ask you to talk in your groups about what you can do to show kindness to someone. Then, we will talk about it as a class.
Situation 1: You walk to school one day balancing your books on your head. Your friend Martin is following closely behind you. Suddenly, you hear a loud screeching sound. You stop walking and notice a bird sitting in the nearby tree. It is making the loud sound. Just then, Martin steps on the back of your foot. You yell, “Ouch!” and turn around to face Martin.
Situation 2: After working all day, you are very tired. You see your mother walking down the street. She comes over to walk with you. You can tell by the look on her face that she has had a hard day.
Remember, in being kind to others, we show our love for other people. Our memory verse today is:
The whole law is fulfilled by obeying this one command. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Galatians 5:14
Use the rhythm you created to say the words for this verse 3 times. If you used a familiar melody to sing this verse with students, sing it 3 times. You will use the same rhythm and melody for the next few lessons.
End class by saying this blessing, based on 1 John 3:18 and Mark 12:31, over the children.
Blessing: May you put your love into action through the kindness you show others. May you truly love your neighbors.
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.
