Teachings from Jesus- Love for Enemies

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1 In this lesson, children will see the love that God has for all His people, and how we should show that same kind of love and kindness even towards our enemies. by Kristy Thornton TOPICS Favoritism, Humility, Kindness, Love, Mercy AS KIDS ARRIVE (10 minutes) Who's In or Out? Part 1 (Activity) page 3-4 Cover part 1 of this activity as the children arrive. Then, cover Part 2 during the memory work portion. OPENING PRAYER AND PRAISE (5 minutes) MEMORY WORK (10 minutes) "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke 6:27-28 NIV Who's In or Out? Part 2 (Activity) page 3-4 SCRIPTURE READING AND DISCUSSION (15 minutes) Introduction: In today s lesson, we will learn that Jesus expects us to show love and kindness to everyone, even to our enemies. We should always act with humility and mercy. Sometimes, it is not easy to love our enemies, especially when they mistreat us or make us mad. However, God shares His love and kindness to all people without favoritism. Jesus calls us to do the same. Let's read from the Bible to find out what Jesus teaches about this important subject. Read Luke 6:27-36 (Love for Enemies) 1. According to these verses, whom are we supposed to love? (Our enemies.) 2. How should we react to someone who curses or mistreats us? (We should bless and pray for that person.) 3. What is wrong with loving only those who love you? (It doesn't count for anything; even sinners love those who love them.) 4. What makes it so difficult to love our enemies? (Allow for answers.) 5. How should we respond to someone who takes our coat? (We should offer our shirt as well.) 6. What happens, according to verse 35, when we lend to others without expecting anything in return? (Our reward with be great, and we become children of the most high.) 7. Why do you think Jesus wants us to go the extra mile in order to show mercy, love, and kindness to our enemies?(when we love our enemies, we act like Jesus. If we do not love our enemies, we are just acting like the rest of the world.) 8. What are some ways you can show kindness to someone who is mean? (Allow for responses.) CLASS EXERCISE (20 minutes) Resisting Fleshly Desires (Activity) page 5-6 ALTERNATE CLASS EXERCISE (12 minutes) Fill Them with God's Kindness (Object Talk) page 7-8 APPLICATION (4 minutes) Matthew 7:12 is known as the Golden Rule. Jesus says, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Our lesson today is very similar. Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Making a decision to love your enemy is the first step to treating others like you would want them to treat you. Jesus also wants us to take this action to the next level. Not only should we love our enemies, but we should also bless them, pray for them, give freely to them, and show them kindness even when we don't want to. These are all humble actions and choices that we must make. God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. We should do the same.

2 Can you think of any examples in the Bible where someone showed love, kindness, mercy, or prayed for someone who had wronged him or her in some way? Examples: Joseph chose to forgive his eleven brothers for trying to kill him. Jesus prayed to His Father while on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." Esau chose to love and forgive his brother Jacob for robbing him of his birthright and blessing. NEXT WEEK Come back next week for another exciting teaching from Jesus. CLOSING PRAYER (2 minutes)

3 WHO'S IN OR OUT? Teachings from Jesus- Love for Enemies This activity will create a visual picture of what is in our heart. It will allow God to reveal to us His love for all people. by Kristy Thornton TOPICS: Acceptance, God's Love, Humility, Love, Mercy MATERIALS: Heart worksheet page 9 Pencils or markers Whiteboard DURATION: Approximately 20 minutes PREPARATION: Before class, print enough copies of the heart worksheet to have one for each child. On the whiteboard, write Luke 6:27-28 word for word. However, leave blank lines in place of the words enemies, hate, curse, and mistreat. Place the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 above the blank lines as shown below. (Click here for examples using KJV.) "But to you who are listening I say: Love your (1), do good to those who (2) you, bless those who (3) you, pray for those who (4) you." Luke 6:27-28 NIV Below the verse, create four columns listing words that could replace the blank spaces. The four lists should appear as follows LIST 1 Mom and Dad Friends Enemies Lord LIST 2 Love Give to Hate Know LIST 3 Curse Like Bless Love LIST 4 Love Enjoy Mistreat Pray for Answers: Enemies Hate Curse Mistreat WHAT YOU WILL DO: Part 1: Give each child a heart worksheet. Have them write the names of people they regularly pray for and care about inside the heart. Have the children write all the names of people they know, or types of people for whom they would not want to pray on the outside of the heart. If time permits, the children can also decorate their heart. When finished, set the projects aside until Part 2.

4 WHAT YOU WILL SAY: Part 2 I wrote some special verses on the board in front of you. They give us an important teaching from Jesus. However, I left some of the words blank. I also created four lists of words underneath the verses. What I would like to do as a class, is decide which word from each list goes with its corresponding blank space. (Have the children take turns guessing which word goes in the blank space. If a child guesses wrong, allow some other child to make a guess. As the correct words are chosen, write them in the blank space. Once the verses are complete, have the children read them several times aloud.) As followers of Christ, we should love our enemies and pray for those who have done us wrong. This goes against every part of our flesh, but we are not here to satisfy our flesh. We are here to honor God and bring glory to Him. 1. Which would bring more glory to God, having the names of just your close, loved ones inside the heart, or to include those who have wronged you inside as well? (Allow for answers.) 2. Are you living according to this principle? (Allow for answers.)

5 RESISTING FLESHLY DESIRES Children explore the difference between giving into their fleshly desires and acting out of love with mercy and humility. TOPICS: Godliness, Humility, Love, Mercy, Self-control, Worldliness MATERIALS: Action situations [PDF] page 10 White poster board Markers, scissors, tape DURATION: Approximately 20 minutes PREPARATION: Cut the poster board in half in order to make two signs. (Two sheets of printer paper can work as well but the signs will be smaller.) On one sign, print in large letters the word FLESH, and on the other, print largely the word LOVE. Tape each sign to a wall on opposite sides of the room. In addition, print the action situations sheet and cut each situation into its own card. WHAT YOU WILL DO: You will start by having the class read Luke 6:27-31 aloud. Make sure they understand that Jesus is speaking these words to the crowds. Then, have each child pair up with another student. Give one situation to each pair of students. (You will need five pairs of students to perform all five situations. If you have less than ten students, assign more than one situation to any pair of students as necessary.) The performers can use actions and words to act out their situations. Explain to the class that each pair of performers will act out a situation similar to what they just read from the Bible. Afterwards, everyone else in the class must decide if what happened demonstrated acting out of a desire of the flesh or love, and then stand next to the appropriate sign on the wall. After everyone has made his or her choice, announce the correct choice and explain to the children what the performers were trying to demonstrate. Then, let the children respond to the discussion questions pertaining to each situation as shown below. WHAT YOU WILL SAY: Situation 1 - Bless Those Who Curse You (Correct sign: FLESH) 1. When someone curses or abuses you, the natural tendency is to strike back. According to Jesus, what should we do instead? (Bless the person.) 2. How can we bless someone who curses us? (By saying nice things, forgiving, and loving the person despite his or her actions.) Situation 2 - Pray for Those Who Mistreat You (Correct sign: LOVE) 1. When someone mistreats you, the natural tendency is to get angry. What does Jesus say we should do instead? (Pray for the person.) 2. How does praying for someone instead of getting angry please God? (Because it is what God asks us to do. It shows love, selflessness, and humility. Even if we don't see any results, we know our reward is in Heaven.) Situation 3 - Turn the Other Cheek (Correct sign: LOVE) 1. If someone hits you on the cheek, the natural tendency is to punch back or retaliate in some way. What does Jesus say we should do instead? (Turn the other cheek.) 2. What do you think Jesus means by saying we should turn the other cheek? (He means we should not seek

6 revenge or retaliate in a similar manner. Instead, we should respond out of godly love and possibly win that person over to Christ.) Situation 4 - Give Them Your Shirt Also (Correct sign: FLESH) 1. If someone takes your coat (cloak) from you, the natural tendency is to take it back. What does Jesus say we should do instead? (Give the person your shirt [coat] as well.) 2. Why would giving your shirt to someone who took your coat be an act of love? (By giving your shirt also, you are showing humility and generosity to someone who is desperate or in distress. This may even cause a positive change to take place in his or her heart.) Situation 5 - Don't Demand It Back (Correct sign: LOVE) 1. If someone takes something that belongs to you, the natural tendency is to want it returned. What does Jesus say we should do instead? (We should not demand it back.) 2. What does Jesus mean when He tells us to give whatever we have to anyone who asks for it? (He is not telling us to give money or things to people who intend to use it for wrong purposes. There are many who beg us for things, but we should willingly give to those who ask correctly out of a true need. In doing this, we show how we are free of material possessions.)

7 FILL THEM WITH GOD'S KINDNESS A demonstration to show what can happen when we display God's kindness, mercy, and love without favoritism. TOPICS: Anger, Favoritism, Kindness, Love, Mercy MATERIALS: Two clear plastic cups Popped popcorn Pitcher of water Flat tray for collecting water Marker DURATION: Approximately 12 minutes WHAT YOU WILL DO: Start by labeling the two cups "Jed" and "Ted" with the marker. Then, place the two empty cups on the flat tray. You will add a small amount of popcorn into the cup labeled "Ted." Then you will pour water into both cups until the water overflows into the flat container, demonstrating how overflowing someone with kindness, mercy, and love (water) can remove anger and hate (popcorn) from a person's life. WHAT YOU WILL SAY: We are going to demonstrate what can happen when we fill up a person with God's kindness, mercy, and love. The water in this pitcher represents God's kindness, mercy, and love, while this popcorn represents anger, bitterness, and bad choices. These two cups look about the same. Let's pretend these cups are babies that were just born. One is named Jed, and the other is named Ted. They were born in homes that were very different. Jed grew up with a very loving and God-fearing family. Meanwhile, Ted grew up in a home filled with violence and anger. As these two boys grew up, Jed became a nice person, loved by everyone. (Fill Jed's cup 1/2 full with water.) However, Ted had a hard time at home and became bitter and angry. (Add a little popcorn to Ted's cup.) As the children grew older, they started to go to school together. Jed did well at school and at home. Many people were kind to him and loved him. (Add more water to Jed's cup to make it overflow.) Jed was overflowing with God's kindness, mercy, and love. On the other hand, Ted didn't do so well at school, or at home. People didn't want to be his friend. Teachers yelled at him, and he was grounded most of the time for making bad choices. (Add a little more popcorn into Ted's cup.) One year, the two boys had the same class together. Jed felt badly for Ted. Ted was mean to everyone, and no one was ever nice to him. Then, one day, Jed got an idea. Maybe Ted might start becoming nice if he was shown God's kindness, mercy, and love, no matter how mean Ted was. Jed began to share his lunch with Ted every day, although Ted just threw it back at him. (Pour a little water into Ted's cup.) Jed asked Ted to be his partner in math class, although Ted just moved to the other side of the table. (Pour some more water into Ted's cup.) Jed would sharpen Ted's pencils for him, although Ted continued to break all of Jed's pencils. (Pour more water into Ted's cup until it is about to overflow. The popcorn should be floating at the top.) Finally, Jed was just about to give up showing God's kindness, mercy, and love to Ted when Jed decided to try one more time. Jed walked up to Ted and said, "I would like to be your friend, Ted. Would you like to be mine?" (Pour more water into Ted's cup until it overflows and the popcorn is pouring out of the cup.)

8 Ted thought for a moment, and then something happened. He looked at Ted and blurted out, "OK!" 1. Why do you think Ted kept being mean when Jed tried to be nice? 2. Why do you think Ted finally decided to be nice and become Jed's friend? 3. Why should we show kindness, mercy, and love, even to someone who is mean? (Our Father in Heaven is kind, merciful, and loving to the ungrateful and the wicked. He does not show favoritism. He wants us to be the same way to others.)

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10 Resisting Fleshly Desires (Situations) 1. A boy suddenly walks up to you while standing in the hallway at school. He curses you and pokes fun at you by making weird gestures with his hands. You respond by punching him on the arm. 2. You are standing in line to enter a movie theater when a person budges in line right in front of you. You're not happy but you don't show anger. Instead, you immediately pray for that person. 3. You are having fun at the playground when a well-known bully approaches you and stares you in the face. He shouts some mean words, and then slaps you on the cheek. Instead of running away or slapping him back, you point to your other cheek. 4. You are waiting for the bus to go home from school. It is sort of chilly, so you are glad you brought a coat. Suddenly, someone about your size comes and takes your coat before you can put it on. Immediately, you chase the perpetrator down and snatch back your coat. 5. A friend comes over to play, and you are both in your room. Your friend notices that you have a brand new softball glove, and asks if he can borrow your old one. You look for you old glove and find it under the bed. You give it to your friend and tell him that he can keep it. Kids Sunday School Place, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ww w.kidssundayschool.com