Lesson 12: Humble and Proud
Aim:
*To understand the meaning of the words humble and proud
* To learn the Bible verse: Luke 18: 14(Easy-to-Read Version) People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
Materials
* Story – The parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-13)
* Story – Yrtle the Turtle, by Dr. Seuss
* a plastic toy turtle, wood blocks, balloons
* Words for display – Pharisee, tax collector, humble, proud
* Worksheets
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Two Activities
3. Yertle the Turtle
4. The Pharisee and Tax Collector
5. Questions about the parable
6. Worksheets
7. Review the lesson
8. Prayer
1) Introduction
Introduce the words humble and proud
HUMBLE – A humble person is someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others.
PROUD – A proud person has too high opinion of himself. He puts himself above others and looks down upon them.
2) Two Activities
Practice bowing – We can show humility by bowing before each other. Have everyone get down and feel what it is like to bow before someone else. Have them start by simply bowing their heads to each other. Then have them bend over at the waist. Then get down on one knee, then two. Then do a full bow with their heads almost touching the ground.
Use balloons to teach – Give each child a plain balloon. Show how a deflated balloon is pliable. You can stretch it, wrap it around things, put it inside other things, pull it over smaller things. Then have everyone blow up their balloons. Talk about how it is no longer flexible. It is puffed up now, and can only be one shape. It is only able to be used for certain things. A puffed up person is not as useful to God as a flexible, pliable, humble person. Humility makes us flexible, useable, and moldable by God.
3) Yertle the Turtle
Have you ever known someone who thought they were much better than everyone else and deserved special treatment? This is a story about a turtle who was like that. – Yertle the Turtle.
You can use a plastic toy turtle and wood blocks to tell the story.
Yertle was ruler of a little pond on the island of Sala-ma-Sond. All of the turtles at the pond had everything they needed and were quite happy. They were happy, that is, until Yertle decided that his kingdom was too small. “I am ruler of all that I see, but I don’t see enough. My throne is too low down” complained Yertle.
So Yertle lifted his hand and gave a command. He ordered nine turtles in the pond to stand on each other’s backs so that they could become his new and higher throne. He climbed up onto the backs of the turtles and he had a wonderful view. But Yertle still wasn’t satisfied. “Turtles! More turtles!” he called from his lofty throne, Yertle swelled with pride and feelings of importance as turtles from all over the pond came to climb on the stack of turtles which made up Yertle’s throne.
At the very bottom of the stack was a plain and ordinary turtle named Mack. He struggled under the weight of all the turtles until finally, he decided that he had taken enough. That plain little turtle named Mack did a very plain little thing. He burped! His burp shook the throne and Yertle fell right into the mud! And now the great Yertle is King of the MUD.
When you think too highly of yourself, you often wind up taking a big fall, don’t you?
4) The Pharisee and Tax Collector Luke 18:9-14
(Display the words on the white board as you introduce the characters)
PHARISEE – a man from religious group that was very strict in obeying the law of Moses.
TAX-COLLECTOR – a person who collects money from the people to give to the ruler of the country.
Jesus told a story about a man who thought he was better than everyone else. In the story two men went to the temple to pray. One of the men was a Pharisee, a religious group that was very strict in obeying the law of Moses. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I’m certainly not like that tax collector over there! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of all my income.”
The tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he bowed his head in sorrow, saying, “Oh God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.”
Now, which of these two prayers do you think was pleasing to God? You are right. The prayer of the tax collector. Jesus said, “The tax collector, not the Pharisee returned home justified before God.
“People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
When we are tempted to brag about ourselves, we need to remember that other people are not impressed — and neither is God!
Get the children to repeat the words from the Bible.
“People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
5) Questions about the parable
1. How did the Pharisee feel about the tax collector? He looked down upon him
2. How did the tax collector feel about himself? He was very sorry for his sins
3. Why did the Pharisee think he was so good? He didn’t cheat or sin. He fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of his income to God
4. How did God feel about the Pharisee? God was not pleased with his self-righteous attitude
4. How did God feel about the tax collector? He forgave him
5. Did both men believe in God? Yes
6. What was the Pharisee thankful for? He was not a sinner like everyone else.
7. What did the tax collector ask of God? He asked for forgiveness
8. Which man was humble? the tax collector
9. Which man was proud? the Pharisee
6) Worksheets
* Colour the picture. Children write Jesus words from the Bible under the picture or cut and paste words onto the worksheet. “People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
* Spot 10 differences between the pictures. Write the words: Pharisee, proud, tax collector, humble
7) Review the Lesson
What can we learn from this story? Review the aims of the lesson.
* To understand the meaning of the words humble and proud
A humble person is someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others.
A proud person has too high opinion of himself. He puts himself above others and looks down upon them.
* To learn the Bible verse: Luke 18: 14
People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
8) End with a Prayer
