31st May 2020

The Fruit of the Spirit is … Kindness…

Luke 6:31: “Treat others as you want them to treat you” is well-known and an easy concept to teach to kids. But keep reading and by Luke 6:35 this passage is very tricky:

“35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without hoping to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, because he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin.”

So yes, start with being kind to the ‘easy’ people; be kind to brothers, sisters, family and friends. But don’t let it stop there - let’s ask the Holy Spirit to grow kingdom kindness in us.

Click here for this week’s colouring sheets.

Memory Verse

“Treat others as you want them to treat you.”

— Luke 6:31

This week we pick up David’s story after he becomes King.

Will he crush Saul’s family now that he’s in charge, or show kindness to them?

2 Samuel 9

David and Mephibosheth

David never forgot his great friend, Jonathan, who had been killed by the Philistines. He remembered, too, his solemn promise that he would take care of Jonathan's family once he became king.

In those days a new king would put to death his rival's family, but David behaved quite differently.

“Is any member of Saul's family still alive?” he asked his servants. “I want to be kind to him for Jonathan's sake.”

David's servants sent for Ziba, who had been a servant at Saul's court, and David asked him the same question.

“Yes, your Majesty,” Ziba answered, “Jonathan's son is still alive. He's called Mephibosheth. But you would not want him here at court. He could not serve you because he cannot walk. Both his feet are badly hurt.”

“Bring him here at once!” David ordered.

Mephibosheth was grown up by this time, but he had been a boy of five when his grandfather and his father Jonathan had been killed in battle. When his nurse heard the terrible news she had fled from the palace in terror, carrying the little boy. In her hurry she dropped Mephibosheth, hurting both feet so badly that he never walked again.

When Ziba arrived and Mephibosheth heard that he was summoned to the court he was afraid that David was going to have him put to death.

But he had to obey the royal command and go to Jerusalem.

He was helped into the king's presence, and David looked at him closely. He hoped to see a likeness to his dear friend but instead he saw a face full of fear.

“Don't be afraid, Mephibosheth,” David said gently. “I want to give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather, Saul. Ziba shall be your servant from now on and farm the land for you. I want you to live here at my palace with me and have all your meals at my royal table.”

“I don't deserve your kindness,” Mephibosheth replied in a trembling voice. “I shall be useless to you.”

But David said “For Jonathan's sake you will be dear to me always.”

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Crafts

Here are some ideas to help you explore kindness together at home.

Confetti Poppers

Start by decorating a toilet roll with pencils or pretty paper. Next cut the top off a balloon, stretch the balloon over the end of the toilet roll and tie the knot. Secure the balloon with tape.

Fill the toilet roll with confetti - small bits of tissue paper, hole-punched circles of paper, bird seed, etc. Just use what you have and what you don’t mind leaving on the grass or clearing up!

By pulling on the knot and then releasing you can fire the confetti like a party popper.

The teaching point here is to learn to enjoy spreading acts of kindness - don’t worry about where they fall or whether you will reap them back.

Kindness jar

How about making a jar / mug / box / list of things you can do to be kind, particularly to those who either won’t know you’ve done it or won’t be able to repay the favour.

Think about David’s question: “Who is left that I can show kindness to?”

It’s a little more challenging to find safe ways to bless others during lockdown so here are some ideas to get you started - try to come up with some more together:

Litter picking on your street/local walk.
Calling a neighbour before you do your next shop, to ask if you can pick anything up for them
Buying extra in your next shop to give something to the foodbank
Sending positive feedback to a website/blogger that you have enjoyed
Writing a thank you note for those who collect your bins, bring your shopping, post, etc.

Once you’ve made your jar you could try to do one thing each day or week.

Kind Words

One way to show kindness is with our words. Use cotton wool and sandpaper to represent kind and unkind words; talking about how they feel and the effect they have on us. You could work together as a family to create a display of words you want to use /avoid, or you could use the cotton wool / sandpaper imagery throughout your week to remind each other to speak kindly.

Kindness in Action

studying the story of David and MEPHIBOSHETH

Thinking about how it feels to receive the kindness of others is a good motivation for us to show that kindness ourselves. Take some time to read through the story of David and his kindness to Mephibosheth from 2 Samuel Chapter 9 and use the questions below to wonder what it would have been like to be in Mephibosheth’s place. This is a beautiful picture of the grace of God, we have been shown such kindness and adopted into God’s family!

Here are some ideas for discussion as a family:

• When Mephibosheth was sent to the palace to meet David how do you think he felt?

• Have you ever been asked to go to see someone powerful or very important, maybe the headteacher at school, or even your parent when they say they want to have a chat with you about something you have done! Parents – share your own examples too

• How did it make you feel?

• What did you hope they would be like to you when you met them?

• Why do you think David wanted to help Jonathan’s son? (HINT: check out the end of 2 Samuel 8)

• How did David show kindness?

• Could Mephibosheth ever pay him back?

• How do you think Mephibosheth felt after David had told him what he wanted to do for him?

• Who might you want to show kindness to this week?

• What makes it difficult to be kind?

• How do you think you could?

Take a moment to pray, thanking God for his wonderful kindness to us and for his help to grow in kindness toward others, particularly those who we might struggle to be kind to.

Hands-On at Home

What help do you need?

Try these activities

Tie your shoelaces with your eyes closed.
Have a drink without using your hands.
Walk through the house using only one leg.
Write your name with your eyes closed.
Put a jumper/jacket on using only one arm.
Move from the floor onto a chair without using your legs.

This week’s bible story concerned David’s kindness to Mephibosheth. Mephy was 5 when his grandfather the king, and his father, both died in battle. Mephy’s nurse fled to protect him and in the panic there was an accident that left Mephy unable to walk.

This week’s memory verse - treat others as you would like them to treat you - relies on us having empathy. If you have never been in the situation that someone else is facing it can be hard to know how to show kindness to them. How wonderful that the Holy Spirit who grows kindness in us can also give us wisdom and understanding. If there is someone who you want to love better, pray that God would show you how to be kind to them.

“Show mercy to others; be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. ”

— Colossians 3:12