Forgiving a debt
Children's Activity
Object:
Teachers or Parents: Who is worthy of teaching about
forgiveness? Surely it is a most difficult thing to do. Revenge
and carrying a grudge are far more natural responses to an
injury.
*Ask the children for examples of hurts from other children: a broken toy, a broken promise, a hit, breaking a favorite video game, and so forth. Now ask, "How often should I forgive a person who has hurt me?" Continue by saying, "In Jesus' day they said you should forgive someone who has done you wrong seven times." (Count out seven objects.) "Then, when they have hurt you an eighth time, you can get even with them." But Jesus said we should keep on forgiving people long after seven times. We should forgive over and over, because God forgives us over and over.
*Show how different Jesus' teaching is from what we learn on television and in movies. Ask for examples from the children. They'll tell you! They see it again and again: vengeance and violence. Hurt begets hurt.
*Be honest and tell your children how difficult it is for even adults to learn Jesus' teaching about forgiveness.
*Imagine ... Ask the children: "What would happen if we could forgive others? Would there still be killings and wars? Would there be murders? Would there be injuries? Would the world be much better if we could give ourselves the gift of forgiveness?"
*Play with the words GIVE and FOR-GIVE. Build words from each of the letters: F: Faith, Friend, Foe; O: Others, Ourselves, Only; R: Revenge, Respect, Reward; G: Grace, God, Gift; I: Imagination, Instinct, I-centered; V: Vengeance, Value, Vision, View; E: Getting Even, Enough, Eternal life, and so on.
*Make up a play based on the forgiving steward of the text. Present the play to the congregation as a lesson for others on the value of forgiveness and how it is a gift we give to God, ourselves, and others. Since forgiveness is such a central element of Jesus' teaching, the play could be a long-term project.
*Ask the children for examples of hurts from other children: a broken toy, a broken promise, a hit, breaking a favorite video game, and so forth. Now ask, "How often should I forgive a person who has hurt me?" Continue by saying, "In Jesus' day they said you should forgive someone who has done you wrong seven times." (Count out seven objects.) "Then, when they have hurt you an eighth time, you can get even with them." But Jesus said we should keep on forgiving people long after seven times. We should forgive over and over, because God forgives us over and over.
*Show how different Jesus' teaching is from what we learn on television and in movies. Ask for examples from the children. They'll tell you! They see it again and again: vengeance and violence. Hurt begets hurt.
*Be honest and tell your children how difficult it is for even adults to learn Jesus' teaching about forgiveness.
*Imagine ... Ask the children: "What would happen if we could forgive others? Would there still be killings and wars? Would there be murders? Would there be injuries? Would the world be much better if we could give ourselves the gift of forgiveness?"
*Play with the words GIVE and FOR-GIVE. Build words from each of the letters: F: Faith, Friend, Foe; O: Others, Ourselves, Only; R: Revenge, Respect, Reward; G: Grace, God, Gift; I: Imagination, Instinct, I-centered; V: Vengeance, Value, Vision, View; E: Getting Even, Enough, Eternal life, and so on.
*Make up a play based on the forgiving steward of the text. Present the play to the congregation as a lesson for others on the value of forgiveness and how it is a gift we give to God, ourselves, and others. Since forgiveness is such a central element of Jesus' teaching, the play could be a long-term project.
