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 whole law is fulfilled by obeying this one command.
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Galatians 5:14
The Holy Spirit produces kindness within those who believe. When you act in kindness, you act with love in your heart. That is not to say that you can only be kind to those who are closest to you. God calls us to be kind to everyone. Kindness is an act that results from the love of Jesus that lives within you. Being kind to others shows them the love of Jesus.
How do you show kindness toward others? Are you patient? Are you in control of the words you use? There are many ways to show kindness, but perhaps the most powerful is through kind actions. Think of a time when you were kind to someone. How did that person respond? People are not always thankful for acts of kindness, but they are always positively affected by them.
Encourage families to talk to their children about ways they can show kindness to others. Ask the children to share what they learn about kindness with their families.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet each child by name. Ask each child to find a partner. Have the partners take turns telling the other partner something they like about the partner. For example, a child might say, “Sarah, you are a good friend to others.”
Welcome! As you came to class today, you were asked to say something kind to someone. Today’s lesson is about kindness. One way that you can be kind is through the words you say to others. Another way you can be kind is by acting in ways that are helpful and caring to others.
We will show kindness by creating something that will make someone else happy. In a moment, each of you will paint a picture on a smooth stone. Take a minute to think about something that makes you smile or something that makes your day happier. For example, when I see a butterfly, I want to smile. Maybe seeing a smile makes you happy. Raise your hand when you have thought about something happy.
Call on 4–5 children to name the things that make them happy.
If you have not thought of something you can paint, you can paint something others have said. I will give each of you a rock and some mud. You will paint your happy picture on the rock using your finger.
Optional: If you have paint and paintbrushes, give these to the children to use instead of mud. Then, place a cup of water between every 4–5 children so they may rinse their brushes.
Give each child a stone and some mud. Allow the children 5 minutes to paint their stones. Ask the children to place their rocks at the front of the teaching space to dry.
You all painted some beautiful pictures! We will talk about what to do with your stones at the end of class. Remember, kindness can be shown through your words or your actions.
Kindness is love that shows itself through actions, words, and thoughts. Being kind means that you are helpful, thoughtful, and gentle toward yourself and others. In the Bible, God shows us what it means to be kind in His actions toward us.
God is kind. He is full of love for us. It makes sense that God would want us to be kind to one another and to Him. By being kind to others, we show a type of love that comes from God. In the Bible, God shows His love for us through His actions. The Bible says:
But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Christ is another name for Jesus, God’s only Son. When you learned about Jesus, you discovered that He died to create a way for us to be with God. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for you and for me! God is love and God is kind! You are all created in His image, remember? This means you are all created to be kind, too!
Kindness is love in action.
Ask the children to repeat after you: “Kindness is love in action.”
In the Bible, we see examples of people who showed kindness to others. As I read, raise 1 hand each time you hear the words kind or kindness. Listen to this true story from the Bible about kind people.
Optional: If you are using The Action Bible, show the children the pictures on pages 242–247 as you tell the story that follows.
Long ago, there lived a woman called Naomi. After her sons died, she was left without a husband and with only her 2 daughters-in-law. One daughter-in-law moved back with her family, and the other stayed with her. This daughter-in-law was named Ruth. Ruth chose to follow Naomi back to Naomi’s home country. Ruth showed Naomi kindness through her thoughts when she decided to stay with Naomi. Without Ruth, Naomi would have been alone.
Ruth and Naomi arrived in Naomi’s hometown. They needed food to eat. So Ruth told Naomi she would go gather the grain that was left in the fields after the harvest. She worked hard so that the 2 women could eat.
If possible, show the Action Bible image of Ruth working in the fields.
On the first morning, the man who owned the field where Ruth was working stopped her and discovered she was part of Naomi’s family. The man was part of Naomi’s husband’s family. His name was Boaz. Boaz told Naomi to continue picking up the grain in his field.
When Ruth heard that, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why are you being so kind to me? In fact, why are you even noticing me? I’m from another country.”
Ruth 2:10
Boaz told Ruth that he had heard about her and what she had done for Naomi. He was pleased with her kindness to Naomi.
He let her continue gathering grain.
Because of Ruth’s kindness to Naomi, Boaz showed Ruth kindness through his actions. Boaz also asked God to bless Ruth for what she had done. Listen to what Ruth said to Boaz.
“Sir, I hope you will continue to be kind to me,” Ruth said. “You have made me feel safe. You have spoken kindly to me. And I’m not even as important as one of your servants!”
Ruth 2:13
If possible, show the Action Bible image of Ruth sharing with Naomi.
Boaz showed Ruth kindness through his words. Later that day, Ruth brought the grain she had gathered as well as what was left of a lunch Boaz had provided her back to Naomi. Naomi was very pleased with Ruth and with Boaz. Ruth continued to work in Boaz’s field.
In this true story from the Bible, Boaz and Ruth were both kind to others. Kindness is love that shows itself through actions, words, and in thoughts. When you are kind to someone, you show that you care about that person. You will learn more about kindness in the next 3 weeks. Kindness is love in action.
Ask the children to repeat after you: kindness is love in action.
Sharing what you have and inviting others to join you in playing games are examples of kind actions. Ignoring your friends and not showing them you care when they have difficult times are examples of not being kind. When you are not kind to someone, you are unkind to that person. Unkind is the opposite of being kind.
Raise your hand if you would like to play a game with me. Great! In the first part of our game, I will tell you about a situation. If someone shows kindness, stand up. If someone does something that is not kind, sit down. We will begin the game with everyone sitting down.
Great job! Now that you understand what kindness looks like, let’s continue our game!
In this next part of our game, you will show what you learned about being kind. The game is called Kind or Unkind. Remember, if you are not kind to someone, you are unkind to him. Unkind means “not kind.”
For our game, I will call on children to act out different situations. The rest of you will decide if the actors show a kind or unkind situation. I will ask a couple of children to say whether the situation shows someone being kind or unkind. I will then ask why the action is kind or unkind. Raise your hand if you want to act out the situation.
Choose 2 children to come act out the situation. One child will be Person 1 and the other child will be Person 2. Whisper the following situation so that the rest of the class cannot hear you. Allow the 2 children to act out the situation.
Situation 1: Persons 1 and 2 take a walk together. On the walk, Person 2 starts to cry. Person 1 stomps his foot and walks away from Person 2.
Allow 1–2 children to respond to each of the following questions.
The child who walked away was unkind to the friend who was crying. When someone is sad, you can comfort that person or stay with that person. Also, it is possible that the child who walked away did or said something to make the friend cry. Let’s try another situation. Raise your hand if you want to act.
Choose different 2 children to come up and act out the situation. Assign each child a number. Whisper the following situation to the 2 children. Allow the 2 children to act out the situation.
Situation 2: Person 2 motions to Person 1 to wait. Person 2 walks away and comes back with something to share with Person 1.
Allow 1–2 children to respond to each of the following questions.
The child who walked away was kind to the friend because he brought something back to share with the friend. It is kind to share with others. The friend who waited showed kindness to her friend through her patience with her friend.
Now, I told you that I would explain why you painted a stone at the beginning of class. The stones you painted are kindness stones. When you see a friend or family member who is having a difficult day, you can share your stone with her. Tell her what you painted on it that makes you happy. Explain that you want her to have the stone to help her through the day. As you leave today, be sure to pick up your stone and take it home with you.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children 5 minutes to color, cut, and complete the activity.
You did a great job today! You showed that you understand what it means to be kind to others. You can be kind because God has shown you what kindness is like. Our memory verse today tells us what it means to be kind. It tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This means that we should show God’s love to everyone.
The whole law is fulfilled by obeying this one command. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Galatians 5:14
Create a rhythm for the children to say this verse to. You may also choose to sing the words to a familiar melody. Repeat the rhythm and words for the verse 3 times. Remember the rhythm and melody for the next lesson.
End class by saying this blessing, based on 1 Corinthians 13:4, over the children.
Blessing: May you be patient and loving as you show kindness to others. May you not want what others have and not brag to make others want what you have.
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.
