A Lesson on Forgiveness

Bible Story: *For this section you will want to choose a doll, puppet, or picture of a child to base your lessons on. Name it and give it a personality – so that the child can relate to it. In the Bible it tells us to “walk in love.” One way that we can love each other is to forgive when someone hurts us or makes us angry. This is ________ and she is sad. Yesterday she was playing toys with her friend. Her friend was not being nice to her toys and broke _______ favorite toy. ________ is sad AND she is very, very mad at her friend. Can you tell _________ what the Bible says? She needs to “walk in love” and forgive her friend for the broken toy. When we forgive, we choose to forget about the mean things that someone did or the way that they hurt us or our things. This is what Jesus wants us to do. __________ needs to tell her friend that she forgives him for breaking her toy. When we forgive, it makes Jesus happy. Activity: Act out different situations where we might need to forgive someone. Pretend that someone broke your toy or is not sharing with you. Walk through the steps of saying, “I’m Sorry,” and then responding with, “I forgive you.” When the class reaches forgiveness, let out a cheer. March around the room and shout, “Walk in love,” together as a group. Puppet Skit: Teacher: Hi,________! How are you? Puppet: __________ is sad and mad! Teacher: Why are you sad and mad? Puppet: (Whispers in teachers ear) Teacher: Oh, a little boy picked on you today? Did he tell you he was sorry when you told him that he had made you sad? Puppet: (Crying) Yes. Teacher: Did you forgive him? Puppet: NO! He was not nice to me! Teacher: Class, can you tell ___________ what we learned today. We are to walk in…. (Let the children respond). God wants us to forgive. God wants you, ________, to forget about what the little boy said and be his friend anyway. That’s what Jesus would do. And you wont be happy until you forgive. Puppet: Are you sure? (The teacher nods) Okay. I better go. I don’t want to be sad anymore. Praise & Worship: Sing, dance, and play instruments. Choose songs that talk about loving one another and forgiveness. Have the children hold hands and sing this song to the tune of “God is so good”: I will walk in love; I will walk in love, I will walk in love every single day. Craft: Forgiveness Heart Supplies: • Red Construction Paper • Band Aids • Crayons • Permanent Marker • Scissors Procedure: Cut out heart from the red construction paper and then cut a line down the middle to create a “broken heart”. Then on each band aid write “Forgiveness”. Have the children color the hearts and then bring out the band aids. Have each child fix their “broken heart” and remind them that when we forgive it makes our heart, the person’s heart, and Jesus’ heart happy.