CLASS: LIFE SKILLS
UNIT 7: Godly Relationships
LESSON: 6 of 6
TITLE OF LESSON: Family Relationships
LESSON OVERVIEW: In this lesson students will be discussing family relationships and the meaning of honoring our fathers and mothers. A national staff will come and share about their family experience and how they show honor to their parents even when they disagree with what their parents are asking them.
OBJECTIVE/ GOAL: For students to learn about healthy family relationships and that all families are different. An important goal of this lesson is for students to understand the difference between obeying whatever their parents ask of them and honoring their parents while still making their own choices and honoring God.
ICE BREAKER/ GAME (optional) MATERIALS
Title: Simon Says...
Explanation: Play a game of “Simon Says” with the students. Give different students an opportunity to lead.
After the game ask the following questions and give the students time to respond:
- If Simon said jump off the top floor would you do that?
- If Simon said eat a hand full of chili would you do that?
- If Simon said jump in front of a car would you do that?
(The hope is that they will say “no” to each of the above questions.)
Ask the question, “Why did you say no?”
Have a brief discussion about the importance of saying “no” to things that may harm us.
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 10 minutes None
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS
(Introduce lesson and explain significance of what will be discussed)
Explain that today we will be talking about family relationships. Family relationships are our closest relationship here on earth (besides marriage relationships). God calls us to honor our father and mother. Today we will talk about what that means as well as hear from a guest about how they honor their father and mother.
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 3 minutes None
LESSON CONTENT AND DESCRIPTION MATERIALS
(In-depth explanation and breakdown of the lesson)
Introduce the guest national staff member and ask them to share a little about their family experience and how they show honor to their parents even when they disagree with what their parents are asking them. Ask them to share more about how honoring God first is the most important, and explain what that looks like practically in their lives. Let the girls ask any questions they have and discuss. Have the girls thank the staff member for coming in to share!
Afterwards, have a discussion time with students about their families. Have them share about what their family unit is like (ex. how many members, do they live together or in different places, are they close with their family, do they have specific responsibilities in their family, is there a certain family member they are close with, what do they enjoy doing together as a family, etc.). Give the girls space to share but remember this can be a very sensitive topic for some. If any of the students are finding this discussion difficult, keep it focused on basic facts such as how many siblings they have, how old they are, etc.
Explain:
1) God has given us families as a gift and each of our families are unique! Families do not all look the same and different families do life in different ways. It does not mean one family’s way of doing life is better than another family- they are just different and that’s ok! Discuss.
2) The most important thing to remember is we have parents here on earth but God is our Heavenly father. God has given us our earthly parents to care for us in this world. Sometimes, though, our parents do not care for us the way God intended them to. Our families can hurt us or not treat us well, but God is a good Dad and He will always want what is best for YOU. Discuss.
3) Remember that we are accountable to God first. This means we need to obey Him before anyone else. Our parents' desires for us may line up with what God wants or they may not. Sometimes our family members will ask us to do something that is not good for us, and it is OK to say no (this is counter-cultural)... it is actually important that we do! But, even if our family members are not showing us love like God designed them to, we still need to honor them. Honoring them does not mean doing what they ask; it means showing them respect in how we respond and treat them. (See Exodus 20:12- "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.")
When we honor our fathers and mothers then we are ultimately honoring God. Discuss.
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 30 minutes National staff member to come in and share (please notify them in advance!)
ACTIVITY 1 MATERIALS
(Use interactive games, demonstrations, or activities to reinforce lesson)
Title: Scenarios/ Role Plays
Explanation: Read the following scenarios and have a discussion about how the characters should respond to their family members' requests.
Using these examples (or others they come up with), have the students do role plays and practice honoring their parents while respectfully disagreeing with them. What would they say? How could they say it nicely and respectfully? What if their parents refused to listen? Split the students up into groups and have one person play the daughter and the other person play her parent. (Or you can have volunteers come up to role play in front of the class). Have a discussion after the role plays and share additional thoughts and ideas about how to honor others while respectfully disagreeing.
Scenario 1: Bo has been studying very hard at school. While she has been at school she has prayed that God would show her the plan He has for her life. Over time she has learned about cooking since she worked at a restaurant on her school break to help send money home to her family. She enjoys cooking very much, and loves being able to serve her friends the food she makes. Her dream is to open a restaurant one day and be able to make people happy with her food. However, her parents do not want Bo to open a restaurant and would like her to finish studying and then come home to work in the rice fields because they need to pay off their loans. What should Bo do?
Scenario 2: Dai helps younger students after school with their homework. She loves being around children and enjoys teaching them. She dreams of being a teacher one day, but her family would like her to drop out of school and move home to marry a man from her village. Dai does not know him very well but her parents say he will help their family and he is a nice man. Dai feels like God wants her to pursue being a teacher. What should Dai do?
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 15 minutes None
ACTIVITY 2 MATERIALS
(Use interactive games, demonstrations, or activities to reinforce lesson)
Title: Family/ Prayer Tree
Explanation: Have the girls draw a family tree and allow them to decorate it afterwards. Encourage them to expand it as much as they can to include as many family members as they know. (Draw an example of a family tree on the board before they start so they understand what it looks like). After they have completed the family tree give them time to decorate it.
Explain to the students that they can put this on their wall as a visual reminder to pray for the different members of their family.
Some of the students may not have a good relationship with their family. Reiterate that sometimes family members can hurt us and not show us the love that they are supposed to, but we can still pray for them and ask that they come to know God’s love for them and that He will change their hearts.
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 15 minutes Whiteboard
Whiteboard markers
Paper, pencils, coloured pencils, markers, crayons, stickers, etc.
SUMMARY MATERIALS
(Conclude, summarize, review, and reinforce lesson content)
Review that families are a gift from God and they are very important relationships, but sometimes our families ask us to do things that are not good for us because they are human. Humans, especially when they are not in a relationship with God, can make poor and selfish choices. We can still honor our families but respectfully say “no” to the things they ask of us that don't line up with what God says or what we feel comfortable with. Sometimes our families' plans match up with God’s plan and sometimes they do not. God has created you special and with a unique plan for your life. God’s plan will always be more important than your families' plan.
Estimated Time (will vary depending on class size): 5 minutes None
JOURNAL ENTRY TOPIC (optional)
None
KEY VOCABULARY (optional)
Honor- to treat someone with high respect, esteem, or admiration; to give special recognition to another person; to treat others with honesty, fairness, and integrity
TEACHING NOTES:
Please make sure to notify the guest national staff member at least a week in advance so they can prepare to come in and share. Talk through the goal of the lesson with them beforehand, explain what you would like them to share, and answer any questions they have.
If this lesson takes more than one day to complete that's ok. This is very important information for the students to understand and have time to think about and process, since it can be a very counter-cultural idea. Many students just do what their families ask them to do regardless of how they feel or how it will affect them. It's important to get the students to understand that honoring God first is the most important, and that it's still possible to honor your parents while respectfully disagreeing with them.