Go Crazy With Kindness January 28, 2011
Posted by rshort in : 2-What We're Teaching , trackback
February’s virtue that we’re teaching in Elementary classes is Kindness: showing others they are valuable by how you treat them. Below is a message from Melanie Williams, editor in chief of 252 Basics, the company that writes our curriculum, on Kindness:
Go Kinda Crazy
Come February, we’re going to be talking about kindness in 252 Basics. Now, I don’t know what comes to mind when you think of kindness. If you grew up with rough and tumble siblings, you may have come to the conclusion that nice guys finish last. If you work in a cutthroat environment, you know it doesn’t pay to be seen as Mr. or Ms. Milk Toast. If your children watched Barney (of purple dinosaur fame), you may have the desire to pull your hair out if you hear that song one more time. You know which one.
Rest assured, we will not be going there! Kindness is not insipid, limp wristed, or ineffectual. It takes (and makes) some real muscle to be kind. It often requires an iron will. It may insist that we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. It even necessitates, on occasion, radical action. Jesus was kind, of course. But He definitely wasn’t namby-pamby. The Jesus who took those little kids in His arms and blessed them was the same one who ran off the moneychangers and called out the Pharisees–not the actions of a weak person, which unfortunately is often how kindness is perceived.
We need to paint a truer picture of kindness for our kids, one that sets the bar higher than merely responding to someone else in kind. One that kindles consideration of others, that stirs up empathy for their needs, that ignites a generous rather than a fighting spirit when they do us wrong. In short, one that looks more like Jesus. So we’ll be exploring what Jesus did and said about kindness, which is showing others they are valuable by how you treat them:
Do to others what you want them to do to you. The gold standard of kindness, from Luke 6.
Treat others the way Jesus would treat them. Jesus gave others (including kids!) His time and attention, from Mark 10.
Treat others as if they belong to God. When you do, it’s as if you’re treating Jesus that way, from Matthew 25.
Do for your enemies what they wouldn’t do for you. Give them another chance, from Acts 9.
Challenge kids, and maybe even other leaders on your team, to go kinda crazy and surprise those around them with kindness.
Peace, Melanie Williams, Editor in chief, 252 Basics, The reThink Group
By Melanie Williams. © 2010 The reThink Group * www.rethinkgroup.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Want to more? Hear Reggie Joiner speak on how Kindness is a reflection of God’s character working in us to change the world around us. He then explores how the 252 Basics Bible stories will work together to unpack God’s truth in a way that makes the virtue come to life.
VIRTUE VIDEO: KINDNESS (February 2011) from Orange on Vimeo.
Also, bring your family and friends to KIDstuff on Sunday, February 6, at 12:30 pm in the Smith Center for worship, drama, fun, and games centered around teaching this virtue of Kindness. The take-home application tool at this KIDstuff will be something your kids will go crazy for!
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