The following lesson addresses the Christian’s call to pursue peace in relationships. The children will be given a few real life scenarios to wrestle with and determine how they could pursue peace in the given situation. This lesson is interactive and relies on child participation.
Texts: Romans 12:18-19, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 3:10-12, Matthew 5:7
Learning Objective: The children will see how God wants us to pursue peace with others as a manifestation of how we have been made at peace with Him through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Target Age: 2nd-5th grade
Time Needed: 30-40 minutes depending on how much your class likes to talk and participate
Materials Needed: Prewritten or typed Scenario Cards (You can use the three scenarios provided or make up more depending upon the size of your class and how many children you would like to include in each small group)
Hook:
- “What is peace?” Give the children opportunity to give their own definitions.
- “What does it look like to not have peace?” Give the children opportunity to explain what this may look like.
- “Does God want us to have peace in our life?” Give the children opportunity to answer and explain the why of their answers.
Small Group Time:
- Divide the class into small groups. The number of groups should match the number of scenario cards you have prepared in advance.
- “I am going to give each group one card. Have one person in your group read it out loud and then discuss how you could make peace in the situation. Talk about what you would do if you were in that situation.” Give one scenario card to each group.
- Allow the groups time to discuss while you walk around the room listening in and engaging in the groups’ discussions.
Scenario Card #1 Share:
Scenario: “You are waiting in line to go up the ladder and go down the slide on the playground. Another kid runs over and cuts in front of you in line. You push them out of your way before climbing the ladder. After all, it was your spot in line wasn’t it? What do you do?”
- The small group shares what they would do to make peace in this situation.
- “Take out your Bibles and turn to Romans 12:18-19.” Read aloud these two verses.
- “What does the Bible tell us we should do?” Take input from the children.
- “The Bible tells us we are to do whatever we can to be at peace with others. Should we ever take matters into our own hands if someone has done something wrong to us?”
- “No, God tells us to never seek revenge because He will take care of it for us. He calls us to do our part to make peace with others no matter who started it. To make peace in this situation, we should go back to the child we pushed, apologize, and seek their forgiveness without mentioning the fact that they cut in line first.”
Scenario Card #2 Share:
Scenario: “There is a child in your neighborhood who often calls you names. You do not know why they call you these names, but you do know that it hurts your feelings. You think maybe this other child could be jealous of you. What do you do?”
- The small group shares what they would do to make peace in this situation.
- “Open your Bibles now to Hebrews 12:14.” Read aloud the verse to the class.
- “This verse tells us to strive for or pursue peace. We are to try to be at peace with all people. You are not at peace with another child if they are calling you names. The Bible tells us to seek to make peace with this child and find out why they are calling you names. By seeking to make peace you are showing the other child the peace you have in your heart because you do not want the other child to have a hardened heart toward you.”
Scenario #3 Share:
Scenario: “It is time for book clubs in your classroom, the time when you and your classmates get to choose which book you will be reading and discussing in small groups over the next several weeks. You have had your heart set on a certain book and everyone in your class knows you have been looking forward to reading it. There is only one of those books left and the student whose turn is right before you chose it, leaving no more copies of the book you wanted. What do you do?”
- The small group shares what they would do to make peace in this situation.
- “Open your Bibles to 1 Peter 3:10-12.” Read aloud these verses to the class.
- “In this situation it was not a nice thing for the student ahead of you to choose the book you wanted when they knew you had been looking forward to reading it. Your reaction could have been to speak a mean word to them and use your tongue for evil. In this passage God tells us to not use our tongues for evil, but to turn away from evil and pursue peace.”
- “What does it mean to pursue peace? It means to go after it. Peace doesn’t just happen on its’ own, but we must try to make peace with others.”
- “In this situation you could go tell that student that you understand that maybe they wanted to read that book, too. You can tell them that you were disappointed you missed out on reading it for book clubs, but you plan to check it out from the library to read on your own. That would be making peace.”
Took:
- “Why should we pursue peace? Why does God tell us in the Bible to pursue peace?”
- “Let’s look at Matthew 5:9.” Read this verse out loud.
- “We are called to be peacemakers because we are sons and daughters of God. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and made Him Lord of our life, then we are at peace with God. No longer does our sin keep us from being at peace with God the Father. What a blessing that is! Having peace with God is the greatest gift we could ever receive!”
- “As a believer in Jesus, because we are now at peace with God, we will want to share that peace with others through making peace with them. By being peacemakers we will be sharing the peace we have in our hearts with those around us.”
- “As you go to school this week and play with friends in your neighborhood look for ways you can make peace and share the peace you have with God. If you do not have peace with God, then today could be the day when you do. If you have questions about how to be at peace with God, then one of our adult helpers would be happy to talk with you about that.”
Need More Help? Browse our growing collection of free Christian coloring pages or find a kids worship songs to accompany this lesson.