Charity is the pure love of Christ, and pure love is powerful!
Charity can move us to serve and lift one another. Charity can help heal wounds. Charity endures, and charity can blossom into patience, forgiveness, and grace.
Charity can help us to see the good in others. It can help us recognize the true worth and eternal potential in others.
Paul taught us that charity exceeds almost all else in importance.
Do your children know what “charity” means? And more importantly, do they know what charity feels like?
We hope that the activities in this lesson will help you and your children become more familiar with one of the most powerful principles in the gospel of Jesus Christ: charity.
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "Love One Another"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need a stuffed animal, a blanket and a small bin filled with ice.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
At the start of the lesson, place the stuffed animal inside the bin on top of the ice (so that the animal will be cold.) Place the blanket nearby so that the children can see it.
Ask the following questions:
1) What do you think this stuffed animal is feeling right now? (Cold, sad, uncomfortable, and lonely!)
2) What do you think the stuffed animal needs? (It needs help getting out of the ice, and it needs something to help it warm up again.)
3) Does anyone feel bad for the stuffed animal? (Let children raise their hands or express their concern for the stuffed animal.)
4) Would anyone like to help the stuffed animal by getting it out of the ice and wrapping it in the blanket? (Invite one of the children to help the stuffed animal!)
Explain: When we care about what other people are feeling instead of only caring about ourselves, that’s called charity! (Invite the children to make a heart shape with their hands held next to their hearts as a symbol for feeling charity). Each of you just felt a little bit of charity for the stuffed animal! And we showed our charity for the stuffed animal by helping it!
This is how Jesus feels about each one of you! Jesus loves us, and Jesus taught us to love one another. Loving God, and loving one another are the two greatest commandments!
🎥 V I D E O : "I'm So Little, What Can I Do? | Animated Scripture Lesson for Kids"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about charity! The children in this video are small, but they still find ways to show charity to the people around them! Let’s see what ideas they think of!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) What are some of the ways that the children showed charity to one another? (Played with a sad little sister, helped find lost shoes, did dishes, made paper snowflakes.)
2) Did they all do the same thing? Or did they do different things? (They all thought of different things to do!)
3) Why do you think they all did what they did? (Because they felt charity.)
4) How do you think each child knew what to do? (They watched the people around them to see what they needed.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scripture together and discuss the questions that follow.
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
1) What is charity? (Charity is the pure love of Christ.)
2) Does charity run out? Or does it last forever, no matter what? (The love of Christ lasts forever, no matter what!)
3) Can we learn to feel pure love for each other, too? (Yes!)
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up…
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (The Apostle Paul is speaking.)
2) If we feel charity, will we be patient with others? Or impatient? (If we feel charity, we will be patient with others.)
3) If we feel charity, will we be kind, or unkind? (If we feel charity, we will be kind to others.)
4) If we feel charity, will we be jealous? Or will we be happy for others? (If we feel charity, we will be happy for others.)
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (Jesus Christ is speaking.)
2) What is Jesus commanding us to do in this verse? (To love one another.)
3) How will people know that we follow Jesus Christ? (When they see that we love others.)
4) How can we show that we have love for one another? (Discuss ideas of how we can show charity towards others.)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E
Pass out the coloring page. Invite the children to color the scene from the video. Use this time to talk about the pure love of Christ, and about loving and serving others.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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