An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Love your neighbor, hate your enemies! This is the old way. We might be tempted to think the old way is more fair (and more satisfying), but doing things this way never ends well.
In His marvelous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us a higher law. Instead of being reactive, Jesus invited us to think for ourselves and to allow kindness, love, and charity to guide our actions.
This new law is not an easy one to live by all the time, especially in a world that promotes and celebrates the old law. May the Lord bless us all in our efforts to follow Him in taking the higher road!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 K A R A O K E V I D E O : "Teach Me to Walk in the Light"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N:
You will need a mirror (a large mirror is ideal, but a small mirror will still work).
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Hold up the mirror. Invite the children to see if they can get the mirror to stop copying them! They can try raising their hands up and down really fast, or changing their facial expressions quickly, etc. Their reflection will always copy what they are doing, but give them a few minutes to experiment!
After the activity, invite the children to return to their seats and explain the following: A mirror will never think for itself to decide what it wants to do. It just copies us! If we frown at the mirror, we will get a frown back. If we smile at the mirror, we will get a smile back!
If we are not careful, our hearts can become like mirrors. If someone is mean to us, we might be tempted to be mean back to them - like a mirror. But Jesus taught us a better way. He taught us to think for ourselves. He taught us to always treat others the way we want to be treated. He taught us that we should love one another just like He loves us.
🎥 V I D E O : " The Golden Rule | Animated Scripture Lesson for Kids"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about some robots who are working together! Let’s watch to see if they choose to be like a mirror when something bad happens, or if they choose to think for themselves and love one another instead.”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) What is “the golden rule?” (Jesus taught us to treat others the way that we want to be treated. That’s the golden rule.)
2) When a robot was going slow, what did the other robots do? (They decided to think for themselves and they followed the golden rule.)
3) When a robot dropped the gold on the other robots, what did the other robots do? (They decided to think for themselves and they followed the golden rule.)
4) When a robot fell into the water, what did the robot do? (He forgot to follow the golden rule!)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the scripture verses below and discuss the questions that follow.
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (Jesus is speaking!)
2) How did Jesus tell us we should treat others? (We should treat others the way we would want them to treat us.)
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (Jesus is speaking.)
2) What is the old way to act, the way that the people heard about before? (The old way was to love our friends and hate our enemies.)
3) What is the new way to act, the way that Jesus taught? (To love our friends and to love our enemies too!)
4) If someone is not nice to us, what does Jesus teach us to do? (To love them, bless them, do good to them, and pray for them!)
…teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (King Benjamin the prophet is speaking.)
2) Do you know who he is talking to? (He is talking to all of the parents about the things they should teach to their children!)
3) What did King Benjamin tell the parents to teach their children? (To love and serve one another!)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E
Pass out the coloring page, one to each child. Invite the children to color the scene from the video. Use this time to talk about how Jesus taught us to treat one another!
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
How can I download Latter Day Kids videos to watch offline?
This is one of the questions we are asked most frequently, and the easiest way is with the Living Scriptures Streaming app! Just open the app, find the videos you want to save, and click the download button (right beneath the video description)!
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Try it out for two whole months without spending a dime! Inside, you’ll discover a treasure trove of inspiring content that actually promotes all of the moral values you hold dear.
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