Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Supplies Needed:
  • 1 black posterboard
  • 1 red posterboard
  • Several Sheets white paper
Did you know that when you are born into God's family that you become a prince/princess.  Yes, that's right we become royalty, and because we are royalty we have a reputation to uphold. We are a member of the family of God and everything we do reflects back to God’s kingdom. Everyone knows who we belong to and so if our actions are bad it doesn’t look very good on God or the rest of the family.

We are going to spend the next few weeks talking about what it means to "be" a princess, and learning how to "be" a princess. Of course we all know this process takes more than just a few weeks but we can learn a few of the basics and start putting them into practice.

There are 3 "A’s" of prince/princesshood. Actions, Attitude and Appearance.

In everything we do (which is the action), we have an attitude to go along with it and there is also an image (appearance) that we portray to those who see the action. So these 3 A’s all go together. They are all wrapped up in one.

(Note to teacher:  This particular lesson is about actions and words.  Over the next few weeks you might do a lesson on Attitude and one on Appearance).

Have you ever heard the saying "actions speak louder than words"? Well this is very true but the attitude we have when doing anything speaks volumes above the action itself and it gives the appearance to all who see us of just who and what we are.  Our words speak volumes about us, and they must be kept in check at all times.

Speaking or talking is an action. You know from school that talk and speak are verbs (action words) so talking/speaking is an action and the words we choose to let come out of our mouths speak volumes of who and what we are. Even those who aren’t Christians know the power of words. Our lives revolve around words, spoken or written so...

The very first thing we need to learn about is our words (our tongue) because it is what usually causes the most trouble.

James 3:2-12—

James says that no man can tame the tongue and that it’s full of deadly poison. But God is able to tame the tongue and those of us who have the Holy Ghost should not use our tongue to bless God and then curse men.

Ever heard of the saying "think before you speak"? Well there is a verse in the bible that supports this saying also.

James 1:19—Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath:
Know what that verse means? When it says be swift to hear, it mean be quick to listen. Listening requires thinking in order to understand what you were hearing. However, most of us, I’m guilty too, tend to spout off at the mouth before we listen to what is being said. Not only do we need to listen to what other people are saying to us first before we respond, we also need to listen to God before we speak. We must also listen to the words forming in our own minds to see whether they are good or bad before we burst out with whatever is on the tip of our tongues. We need to be conscious of and pay attention to what words are forming in our heads before they come out of our mouths especially in angry situations. If we stop to think first before we speak, even though someone may have said something that hurt us, we can prevent ourselves from saying something that we would later regret. We need to make sure than we only allow good words and thoughts to come out. Maybe the person you spouted off at is a sinner and you really offended them. They might have wanted to be like us but in that one moment you destroyed that from happening. Words hurt and people have a hard time forgiving.

Of course I know you guys are really good kids and you usually don’t blow up and spout off at the mouth, but lets talk about something we all do, especially kids. This seems harmless but it really is very damaging even if we mean it jokingly. It’s name calling.

We have had some concerns lately with AJ calling people silly names. AJ and Andy tease all the time calling each other cute little names, like cheeto head or cheeseburger face, but then recently he called someone a "butthead", and AJ thinks it’s cute because it’s a game that he and dad plays, dad has taught him to be a name caller which is not good. Now we are having to each AJ that name calling is a no, no. Andy thought to make up for the bad word he said that we should teach him to say "glutteous maximus head" instead of "butthead", but that is not good either. Name calling is just not a good thing even though at times it seems cute or harmless.

Sometimes name calling is out of playfulness but truthfully when do we usually call someone a name? Most of the times we call someone a name is when you are mad at them. Maybe a sibling, friend or parent has done something to hurt you or make you angry and you spout off and call them an "ugly head". Did you know you are really cussing at them. Yes, that’s right, cussing. You may not be using foul language but you are cursing at them, just without using curse words.

What about when you see someone walking down the street or in the hallway at school that is a little different from you. Perhaps you call them a "nerd" or a "loser". Even though you really don’t think anything about it and it seems as if you aren’t doing anything wrong, it is wrong. You are judging that person based on appearance of an action of some kind when you really don’t know them.

The bible says in Matt. 5:22 that anyone who in anger or wrong judgment, calls his brother (or anyone) "thou fool" is in danger of hell fire. That’s serious punishment for calling someone "a loser" isn’t it? The fact is, is that name calling is just not cute and God does not like it. It is very damaging and very hurtful and, it is not God like at all. Now it’s okay to have sweet, loving nicknames for friends and family members, but It’s really just best to call a person by their name or title. My mom, she’s a wise woman. She used to say "if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all". I think that’s well said don’t you.

Our tongues get us in all kinds of trouble. We should watch to make sure we aren’t caught up in gossiping, lying or speaking profanities.

It’s imperative that as a child of God we do our best to keep our tongues in control. This is the first and foremost rule of princesshood. We could do a million and one terrific things for God but just one word can destroy all our efforts if it causes a soul to be lost. So we must be careful. That’s not to say we won’t slip up from time to time but like David asked in Psalm 141:3, let us ask God right now to—

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

I challenge all of us to be swift to listen, slow to speak and slow to wrath. Let’s stop and think before we speak this week. We’ve asked to lord to help us with this so let’s challenge ourselves this week and in weeks to come to make sure only good things come out of our mouths. The next time someone makes you mad, or the next time you have the urge to name call. Stop and think about it first and make the right choice of words.

Memory verse scramble— Cut a large pair of lips (mouth) out of red posterboard.  Paste your mouth to black posterboard.  Cut "teeth" from plain white paper.  On each tooth write a word or two from the memory verse above (Psalm 141:3).  Hang the poster on the wall.

Note:  Before class time, test to make sure all the "teeth" will fit inside the mouth.  You may need to make adjustments. 

For the memory verse scramble, lay out all the teeth in no particular order (scrambled) and have the children put them inside the mouth in the right order.  Have them repeat the verse several times to memorize it. 

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NOTE:

This blog is dedicated to all things inspirational, with it's basis solely from the infallible, inerrant word of God. Unless otherwise posted all scripture references will be taken from the Kings James version of the Holy Bible. Some biblical material and docrinal views on this blog may be controversial in content. I ask when viewing this type of material that you open your heart solely to the word of God and allow his truth, as written in his word, to teach and guide you.
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