Live At Peace With Others
Posted by: Buffalo Dream Center
Topic: Being A Peacemaker
Verse: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. Mathew 5:9
Props:
flower
Stone
Grater
Fire
Instructions:
Discussion:
Introduction:
Over the next few weeks we are going to talk about being a peacemaker. We have learned from our memory verse that one of the jobs of being a peacemaker is to resolve conflicts. Let’s talk about conflicts for a few minutes.
What is a conflict?
(A fight, argument, disagreement, quarrel)
Who do you get in conflicts with?
(Parents, relatives, sisters/brothers, friends, teachers, neighbors)
How do you feel when you get in conflicts with people?
(Angry, sad, lonely, hurt, mad)
There are lots of different ways people react to conflicts some are bad and some are good. Who remembers some of the ways we talked about last week?
Put Downs
Blaming others
Fight
Denial
Overlook
Get Help
What does the Bible say about how we are to live with each other?
“ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18
(Go over the verse different ways)
This means that we need to do everything we can to avoid conflicts, but if we get in a conflict then we need to resolve the conflict the way Jesus would want us to.
Illustration:
One way to live at peace with others is to watch how we talk and act towards other people. Today I brought some objects that remind me of the ways we can talk or act with people.
Flower – Flowers smell nice
-No matter how someone treats us or what they say to us we should be nice to them.
This is the way God wants us to treat others.
Stone - Some people’s heart is like this stone – hard, and cold
-Some people react to others this way. They have no feelings, they are tough and cold towards a person. This can make someone feel very sad and lonely. Do you think Jesus wants us to act this way towards others?
Grater - Some people are like this grater. We rub something on this grater to break it in smaller pieces for cooking. Some people “grate” against us all the time or we could “grate” against someone else all the time. Maybe we always disagree with them. Maybe we are always bugging them to do something. Or maybe we have someone who does these things to us. This is not the way Jesus wants us to act towards others.
Fire
-Some people are like fire. Their anger flares up all the time, and they are hot-tempered.
Who thinks this is a good way to act towards others? This is not the way Jesus wants us to act and it will not help us.
Bible Story
Introduction: I am going to tell you a story about 2 women who had a conflict. This a true story recorded in the Bible.
Story: A long time before Jesus was born there were two women who lived in the same household. They both had a baby just a few days apart. Early one morning one of the woman woke up to feed their baby only to find out that their baby had died. She was so upset. She thought about the other women who had just had a baby. She sneaked into that woman’s room, picked up that woman’s baby and put her dead baby in its place. When the other woman woke up to feed her baby she realized the baby was dead. Then she realized that that was not her baby. She was very upset when she figured out what the other girl had done.
There was the conflict. How do you think they handle it? Did they fight, ignore what happened, and start calling each other names. No they got help. They went to the king.
Both women told their story. The one woman explained how she woke up and found the dead baby she was upset but then she realized it was not her baby. The other woman has stolen her baby. The other woman said she didn’t know anything about it and she was lying.
The king thought for a few minutes. He wandered how he could find out who the real mother is and how he could find out the truth. Then he ordered his servant to bring a knife. The girls wondered why he wanted a knife? He said that he was going to cut the baby in half and share it between them. The real mother said, “No, no let the baby go live with her (the other girl).” The king knew this would happen. He knew the real mother of the baby would be concerned with the well being of the baby. He gave the baby back to its real mother.
Conclusion: We can learn 2 things from this story.
1. The 2 women in this story got help when they faced a serious conflict. That is what we need to do. It is the best way to deal with a conflict.
2. God gave Kind Solomon wisdom on how to resolve the conflict. The Bible says that if we pray God will give us wisdom too.
Pledge: I promise to do my best to be a peacemaker. This week I will do my best to live at peace with everyone. I will not cause conflicts. I will not resolve conflicts by fighting, name-calling, or blaming others. If I am in a conflict with someone, I will get the help I need.
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