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.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22–23
You tried to exercise self-control, but you still reacted in anger. Or you were caught in a bad situation and lied to get out of it. Afterward, you felt frustrated with yourself for not exercising self-control to tell the truth regardless of the consequences.
Self-control is not simply a result of trying hard to do something, even though it is important to work at having self-control. Self-control in your life is evidence that God is at work—as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. When others notice your self-control, it should point them to Jesus.
When you face difficult situations this week, whisper a prayer. Invite God to do His work in you. Ask Him to increase the fruit of His Spirit in your life. Then, as you teach your class about self-control, tell the children specific ways God is giving you more self-control. Let them see and know about God’s work in your life. Then pray that they too will want to taste and see for themselves that the Lord is good.
Let your students’ families know that this is the first of 4 lessons on self-control. Encourage them to share with their children about a time when they showed self-control, even though it was difficult.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Last week you challenged the children to choose an idea for getting along with others and to put it into practice. As children arrive, ask them what they did and how it worked. Give 2–3 children a chance to share about their experiences with the class.
Let’s start with a game. I will divide you into 2 groups. Each group will line up facing the other. One group will try to make the other group laugh or smile. You can make funny faces, do silly things, or make funny sounds. You cannot touch anyone or use any words. You must stay in the line. The other group will try to keep from smiling or laughing. You cannot leave your spot. Try not to smile or laugh.
Give a signal for the game to start. Give the acting group about 1 minute to try to make members of the other group smile or laugh. Observe the silent group to see how they respond.
When time is up, congratulate those who resisted smiling or laughing. Then reverse the activity. The second group will attempt to make those in the first group smile or laugh by their actions and sounds. Allow the same amount of time. Then clap for their efforts. Have the children sit down for a discussion.
That was fun! Some of you tried so hard to get smiles or laughs from the others. Sometimes it worked. Let’s talk about how hard it was not to smile or laugh.
The idea of this game was to control your actions. If you were able to resist reacting to what others were doing, you were using self-control. Some of you used self-control by not watching or listening to those trying to make you smile or laugh.
Allow 2–3 children to share their thoughts.
Self-control is the ability to choose to say and do what is right. It is controlling how you react to and express your emotions and attitudes. Choosing to say and do what is right instead of reacting in anger or fear can help us live better, safer, more fulfilling lives. If you choose not to hit someone, you are choosing to use self-control. You are controlling yourself. The Bible tells us that when we give our lives to Jesus and become Christians, God gives us His Spirit to help us have self-control.
Today we will read in the Bible about a man named Daniel who used self-control. Many of you have heard about Daniel before.
Allow the children to share what they remember. Some children may remember that God protected Daniel when he was thrown in a den of lions. Some children may not know anything about Daniel. Assure them that it is okay.
Daniel was a young man when the king of Babylon invaded his homeland, Judah. The king ordered his chief official to bring him the smartest and strongest young men in Judah. These young men spent 3 years learning the language and customs of Babylon so they could be Babylonian leaders. The king wanted them to forget about their own traditions and God.
Daniel was one of the young men the official brought to the king. The king assigned all the young men a daily amount of fine, delicious food to eat. The food was the same type of food that the king himself ate. It included food and drink that God’s people were not supposed to eat.
If possible, show the Action Bible image of Daniel and his friends with the food.
If possible, read the next part of the story from Daniel 1:8 from your Bible.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
Daniel 1:8
The word “defile” means to pollute or make dirty. Daniel was an Israelite. He served the One True God. He was committed to following the laws God gave His people in the Old Testament. If he ate the king’s food, he would break God’s laws. He would pollute himself. Therefore, Daniel asked for permission to eat only vegetables and drink only water. The king’s official was worried that Daniel would become unhealthy on this diet. He was worried that Daniel would be weaker than the young men who ate the food the king assigned. So Daniel asked the official to test him and his 3 friends. For 10 days they would only eat vegetables and drink water. If their bodies were strong after 10 days, they would be allowed to continue eating only vegetables and drinking only water. Let’s read from the Bible to see what happened after the 10-day test.
If possible, show the Action Bible image of healthy Daniel and friends.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
Daniel 1:15–16
Daniel and his friends were stronger and healthier than the other young men after eating only vegetables and drinking only water for 10 days. So they were allowed to continue doing this. They did not defile themselves by eating the king’s food. After 3 years, the king called Daniel and his friends in to see him. He was very impressed with their intelligence and wisdom. They became important men in his kingdom. During all this time, Daniel and his friends continued to worship and pray to the One True God.
Daniel showed self-control when he refused to eat the king’s delicious, fine food. He could have been punished for this, but he still made the right choice.
Optional: If you are using The Action Bible, ask the children to read the story on pages 470–472.
Throughout Daniel’s life, he stayed true to God and His ways. He worshipped God. He spent time praying to God every day. God helped Daniel say no to the king’s food. God strengthened Daniel and helped him act with self-control!
Using self-control to do and say what is right can be hard. But even in difficult circumstances, you can choose to say and do what is right. Starting this week, you can begin to use more self-control. Everyone can practice self-control and get better at it.
For those who are Christians, God can help us act with self-control like He helped Daniel. He has given us the Holy Spirit who can help us develop the fruit of self-control. This means that the Holy Spirit produces good things in Christians, just like trees produce good fruit. Let’s read a Bible verse that describes the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22–23
Give your children a couple of minutes to think of ways they can use self-control this week. Share these examples to help them: I will use self-control by following the rules at school. I will use self-control by only eating food I have paid for. I will use self-control by being kind to my younger siblings. I will use self-control by not lying.
When you practice self-control, you can often see the benefits in your life. If you use self-control to stop fighting with your younger brother, your relationship with him will improve. If you use self-control to stop lying, you are more likely to be trusted by others. Sometimes it is easy to see the benefits of self-control. Other times the benefits are not obvious. For Christians, the best thing we receive is knowing that we have brought honor to God.
Get together with 2 other children. Share with each other how you will practice using self-control this week. Also share what benefit you might see in your life by using self-control.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, allow the children to draw how they plan to practice self-control this week. They can then share these in their small groups.
After about 5 minutes, close your class by praying this blessing, based on Galatians 5:22–23, over the children:
Blessing: May you choose to practice self-control this week. As you do, may God Himself give you strength to know Him, and may the Holy Spirit grow His fruit in you.
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.
