Peace Maker vs. Peace Breaker

Today I sat down with the kids and did a lesson about being a peace maker. There has been a lot of bickering between everyone going on the past couple of days, and I really wanted to take a moment to focus on the issue, and create a visual for the kids. I had seen these poster used in school classrooms before, and adapted them to use with this lesson.

The first thing I did was gather the kids and I told them that there had been a problem in our family. I asked them if they could tell me what it was. Much to my surprise, the kids said, “Arguing”. I told them that was right and that I wanted to talk to them a bit about that.

I then took out my bible and Read them a few scriptures, and talked to them about what they meant.

• Proverbs 17:14- Stop arguing before contention starts
• Proverbs 20:3 – Any fool can start a quarrel
• Proverbs 10:12- Strife is stirred up by hatred
• 2 Timothy 2:23- Avoid foolish disputes
• 2 Timothy 2:24- We must not quarrel, but be a peace maker

We then talked about what happens when we are peace breakers by reading scripture, and talking about them.

• Mark 3:25- A house divided cannot stand
• Titus 3:9- Avoid the peace breaker (sent to room and will not participate)

We then talked about our scripter verse, and practiced it a bit.

• James 3:18

After we went to the word, we made our posters. I asked the kids first to name things that peace breakers do,  and wrote those on the posters. *Kind of funny, my three year old said, “hit, kick, spit, bite”. I guess he does listen to me. HA HA. Then they came up with things that peace makers do, and we wrote those down on the poster. Once we were done, we hung the posters on the fridge. All week we will practice our scripter, and focus on fixing this issue.

The kids cleverly asked if there were any brothers and sisters in the Bible who quarreled, and what happened to them. (they are used to this method of teaching) It just so happened that I had already planned to tell them the story of Cain and Able. We will go over several other stories as the week progresses, but this was the one for today.

Peace Breaker:

• Cain and Able
• Joseph and his brothers- Genesis 37:3-27, 45:24
• The Disciples- Mark 9:34, Luke 22:24
• Jacob and Esau Genesis 27:41-45, 33:5-11

Peace Maker:

• Abraham with Lot- 13:6-9
• Abigail – 1 Samuel 25:23-33

We always close in prayer.

There are many stories and scriptures in the Bible that are fitting for this lesson. I used the ones I felt god leading me to for my family. Should you decide to use this lesson, I encourage you to pray and choose the stories and scriptures that are best for your family.