TEACHING OUR CHILDREN about Being Kind

Children seem selfish—thinking mainly of themselves—and need teaching on kindness and consideration of others. (A few small children show kindness at a young age. This is probably the product of observations of their parents—see number 1 below.)

Suggestions as to how to teach children to be kind.

  1. The major influence on children is what they see or feel from their parents. Therefore, the first and most important way to teach kindness to the child is for the parents to exhibit kindness. If the parent is not kind, it will be almost impossible to teach kindness and consideration to the child.
  2. Jesus told an amazing story about the Good Samaritan that will resonate with your child. Use Luke 10:30-35:

“A man… fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead…

…Now by chance a priest was going down that road… when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he… saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan… came… when he saw him, he had compassion…

…He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal… brought him to an inn and took care of him.. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper…  ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.”

For very little children, the parent may need to substitute ‘a man’ for the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan since these words may not be meaningful as yet to the child. As the child learns more, use the names of the men who passed by. Further, the word medicine substitutes for ‘oil and wine.’

Several meaningful lessons from this story appear:

  1. Note that the Samaritan had feelings of compassion for the beat-up man. Encourage the child to feel that way while playing when they see someone without a toy or hurt by something, maybe a fall.
  2. The Samaritan took up his time to help the man. What was the Samaritan going to do that day? All his plans were postponed to show kindness and help to someone he did not even know. The child taught that giving up our play time to help others becomes admirable and desirable. Encouragement should occur each time the child thinks of and helps someone.
  3. The Samaritan also gave of his money to help the beaten man. What was the Samaritan going to spend his money for on that day? He willingly gave it up to help someone who needed help. The child taught that to give up toys to others means showing kindness and consideration. Even giving up a cookie provides a fine deed.

As the child grows older, they can be taught that the major lesson on kindness taught clearly in the Bible is the life and death of Jesus. This sacrifice was for me to have a way to go to heaven and have eternal life. This can be introduced to the child by use of a well-publicized passage, John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

This verse shows that the kindness of Jesus’ sacrificial life began with God, the Father, being willing to let Jesus leave heaven and come to this earth as a human being. (As the child grows, they may see public signs—John 3:16—at public meetings like a football game. If taught at a young age, just seeing the sign will remind the child of the kindness of both God and Jesus.)

A helpful verse to emphasize that Jesus exhibited kindness by coming to this earth and giving up living in heaven is Philippians 2:6-7:

“Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

These verses illustrate that Jesus showed kindness to us humans by giving up living in heaven. Use of Jesus as an example will teach the child that when showing kindness, we have to give up some things that we love.

These lessons can be easily taught in a family Bible reading hour.

Passages read to the child during the daily Bible reading time can emphasize kindness. Luke 10:30-35; John 3:16-17; Philippians 2:6-8; John 15:12-17; Mark 10:42-45;  

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