Game

In our last lesson, we talked about the importance of honoring God, our Creator, by obeying His Word so we would not sin. Do you remember what sin means? Missing the mark; disobeying God’s ways; purposely doing something you shouldn’t do; or not doing something you should do.

Is it a sin to make a mistake—like tripping and breaking something or getting a bad grade on a test? No.

But is it a sin to disobey your mother and not study for a test? Yes.

Now here’s a tricky question: is it a sin to be tempted to do something wrong? No—but we sin if we give in to temptation and do the wrong thing.

Today, we will focus on how to resist temptation and do only the good things God created us to do. God created us with the ability to make choices, so we can choose whether to obey or disobey—like Adam and Eve.

Read Genesis 3:1–6:

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 

Why do you think Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the fruit? It looked delicious; they believed the serpent’s lie that it would make them wise; they thought they knew better than God what would be best for them.

Why does God want us to obey Him? He created us and loves us, so He knows what is best for us, and wants us to do the good things He created us to do.

Has there ever been anyone who never sinned? Jesus.

Do you think Jesus was ever tempted to sin? 

Yes—the Bible tells us in Matthew 4:1-11 that Jesus was tempted by the devil. But Jesus never sinned because He did not give in to temptation. Do you know how He resisted Satan? He quoted Scripture.

This is why we want to memorize Scripture—to build our faith and give us strength to fight temptation.

Last time, we talked about Psalm 119:11 (nlt), which says:

I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

To help us understand how God’s Word protects us from temptation, we are going to play a fun game! 

Choose someone who is not shy. Tell the child to stand in the front of the room. Have the other children stand at the far end of the room behind the line, and give each child one or two balled-up socks or ping pong balls. On “GO!” tell them to toss their socks at the child in front of the class, who will try to dodge them. GO!

Ask the child: It was hard to avoid all of those, wasn’t it? 

Tell children to collect the socks and get ready for round two. This time, however, give the child up front the large cardboard shield to use! Play again.

Ask the child: Did the shield help protect you? 

God’s Word can shield us from temptation, so we have strength to resist temptation and do what is right! Let other children play the role of the target as time allows. God gives us a number of ways to fight temptation that are listed on this Temptation Shield. 

Go over each item on the Shield Pattern, but do not read the scripture references unless you have a lot of time. They are used in the additional activity, “Temptation Shield Verses.”  

Let’s say today’s SuperTruth together: “God created me to do good things.”