Stick to the Truth

KEY VERSE

Proverbs 19:9

STICKY STATEMENT

Lying only makes it worse!

LESSON OBJECTIVE

Children will consider the consequences of lying and will choose to tell the truth.

CHECKLIST

1. A PowerPoint is available for this lesson.

2. Shaker of glitter, preferably a bright color. (Younger Adaptation – Introduction)

3. Duct tape (Introduction)

4. A timer (Introduction)

5. Visual 1 (Body)

LESSON OVERVIEW

The teacher will give the children a brief background to the story of Naaman which led to the lies Gehazi told. As the children make note

of the various lies, they will consider Gehazi’s option to tell the truth. Each child will be encouraged to think about times they have lied and what they should have said instead. The class will have an opportunity to confess their sin to God and ask forgiveness.

Younger Adaptation

Teacher’s Note: Put a small amount of glitter in your hand before children arrive. Continue set up for the evening as normal. As you begin the lesson, allow children to point out places they can see glitter. Emphasize that although it was a very small amount, it sticks to everything you touch and getting rid of it can be difficult. Lying is the same way, sometimes you may think it was only a little lie and it didn’t hurt anyone. But point out how all that glitter sticks to whatever you touched.

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INTRODUCTIONTeacher’s Note: Make “rings” of tape with sticky side exposed, large enough for your children’s fingers. For simplicity, have “rings” ready on a clip board or dry erase board for easy access. Play “Sticky Fingers” with the tape rings. Choose children who are not sensitive to the adhesive. Hand out a couple sticky rings to each player. Play this game like Hot Potato with a timer. Each time the timer stops, eliminate someone with a sticky ring on their finger. Each time someone is eliminated, have remaining players put another sticky “ring” or two on their fingers and play the next round. Or you can do the Younger Adaptation with glitter and continue teaching at the Body of the lesson.

Are you ready to play, “Sticky Fingers”? I will need my volunteers at the front. Who do you think is going to win? Ok, here are the rules. You pass the sticky rings on your fingers to the next person while the timer is running. If you still have a sticky ring on your finger when the timer goes off, you are out. We will continue to do another round until we have a winner!

Teacher’s Note: Set the timer and play have them pass the rings until it stops. Eliminate the child with a ring on his finger.

Sorry, you are out, thank you for playing. Now, before we begin again, those of you left in the game need to put two sticky rings on your hands. Ready, go!

Teacher’s Note: Reset the timer. Continue eliminating players and adding sticky rings until you have a winner or run out of time. Discuss the game’s difficulty and how it became more difficult as more tape was added.

That was pretty difficult, wasn’t it? Was it easier or harder as you played? What made it harder? Well, the more sticky stuff there was, the harder the game was.

BODY

Today, I want to talk about how lying can be a sticky business. It is a lot like trying to pass those sticky rings [or getting glitter stuck on whatever you touch]. When you say something that is not true or only partly true, you are lying. You are also lying when you tell a story and add details that did not really happen. Maybe you lie to cover up what happened to stay out of trouble. You believe that no one will ever know. In order to make that lie stick, you may have to tell more lies to cover the first one. Lying only makes it worse.

Let’s read Proverbs 19:9. [Read Proverbs 19:9.] What does a false witness do? He lies about someone or about what happened. What did the verse say will happen to someone who lies? When this verse tells us someone who lies will perish, this means they will be punished. God does not allow sins like lying to go without consequences. Every person is capable of lying no matter who you are.

God’s Word tells us about a man named Gehazi. He had the very important job of serving Elisha, the prophet of God. However, before I tell you about Gehazi, you will need to know about a soldier named Naaman.

Sadly, Naaman had leprosy which was an incurable skin disease that caused gross sores to appear all over his body. Naaman was told that he should go to Elisha, God’s prophet, for help. Instead of directly hearing from the prophet, Elisha told Gehazi to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Although that seemed like a crazy way to cure leprosy, Naaman followed Elisha’s directions and was miraculously healed by God.

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You can imagine how thankful you would be if someone gave you the cure for your incurable disease.

Well, Naaman hurried right back to Elisha’s home with lots of valuable gifts to thank him. Second Kings 5 verse 5 tells us about the gifts that Naaman brought. [Read 2 Kings 5:5.] Can you imagine having as much silver as ten children would weigh? If you think that was a lot of silver, there was even more gold. [Show Visual 1.] How many pieces of gold did the Bible tell us Naaman brought? [Answer: Six thousand shekels]

Naaman also brought ten changes of beautiful clothes. Most likely these gifts were worth thousands of dollars. Would you have taken these gifts if they were offered to you? Which gifts would you have accepted? [Allow children to respond.]

Then you might be surprised to hear that Elisha didn’t accept any of Naaman’s gifts.What do you imagine Gehazi was thinking? He saw a cured Naaman coming to thank Elisha, but Elisha refusing to accept all these wonderful gifts that Naaman wanted to give him. “Why not accept some of those gifts? What’s the big deal?”

What would you do? Before we look at what Gehazi did, let’s review what happens when we lie. Lying always brings consequences. Not all consequences for lying happen immediately. However, in time, there will be consequences for lying. Remember Proverbs 19:9 told us that someone who speaks lies will perish/be punished? What happens to you when you get caught lying?

Teacher’s Note: Allow children to answer. Potential answers: Punishment, grounding, lose something they enjoy.

Thank you for your honest answers! We should stop and think before we lie because there will always be consequences for lying.

Gehazi decided that lying was the best way to get the gifts that Naaman brought for Elisha. He even made up a very believable story. Let me read what happened in 2 Samuel 5:20-22. [Read 2 Samuel 5:20-22.]

Gehazi rushed after Naaman’s chariot and told Naaman that Elisha sent him. Is that the truth or a lie? [Answer: A lie.] Gehazi continued with a second lie saying that two prophets showed up, and that they needed clothes and also some silver. Uh-oh, Gehazi, lying only makes it worse!

Thinking that Gehazi was telling him the truth, Naaman gave him the two garments and two talents of silver. Not only did Naaman believe Gehazi, he also sent his servants to help Gehazi carry the gifts. After he stashed these treasures out of sight, Gehazi returned to Elisha’s house. When Gehazi arrived, Elisha’s first question to him was, “Where have you been?” Gehazi had another chance to stop his chain of lies and tell the truth.

Raise your hand if you think that Gehazi told Elisha the truth about where he had been. Well, what Gehazi did not know was that God already told Elisha what he had done. Gehazi lied and answered, “Nowhere.” A third lie! Were these lies helping? No, lying only makes it worse. The consequences for Gehazi’s lies were very serious. Elisha told him that for his lies, Gehazi would be covered with the awful incurable leprosy like Naaman had.

APPLICATION

Let’s re-read Proverbs 19:9. [Read Proverbs 19:9.] It says that all liars will be punished. Naaman didn’t know Gehazi was lying. His lies sounded like the truth. Remember that Gehazi 14. Stick to the Truth (Module 4 – Extreme Makeover) - 3

had to tell other lies to cover his first one. You won’t get leprosy like Gehazi, but God doesn’t let you sin and get away with it.

Maybe you have lied to your parents so you could get what you wanted or cover up something wrong that you did. Think about it. Did you really have to lie? You may have found yourself telling a second or third lie to cover the first lie. What happens if your parents find out that you are lying? Besides receiving a punishment, you also break your trust with your parents which makes both of you unhappy. It may take some time for you to prove to them that you can be trusted again. It is very clear that lying only makes it worse. Even if no one else ever finds out, God knows every lie you have told. As much as God loves you, He will punish lying. You cannot keep a right relationship with God when you lie. That means you won’t be blessed by God, He won’t hear your prayers, and you’ll have consequences for lying. If you’ve been lying, right now is a great time to confess your sin and ask Jesus to help you to speak truthfully and to practice telling the truth. As we close in prayer, I want you to silently pray to God and confess your sin of lying. This week go to the person you lied to and tell them the truth. [Close in prayer.]

PERSONAL TRAINING TIME

Goal of this Personal Training Time

Help each child to be aware of and sensitive to their lying.

Discussion Questions

1. What are some things that children your age lie about? (Doing chores or homework; going on inappropriate sites on the computer; they may lie to get out of trouble for something they said or did; blame others for things they do; make up stories or add untrue details, …)

2. What if someone is good at lying and doesn’t get caught? (They may continue to lie. Their lies may hurt others. Since God already knows, it hurts your relationship with Him. Someday your lies may be exposed when you don’t expect it. Others may not trust them when they are found out.)

3. When you lie, what should you do to correct what you have done wrong? (Stop lying. Confess your sin to God. Ask God to help you to always practice telling the truth. Ask forgiveness from the person you lied to.)

PARENT CONNECTION

This week we saw that lying has consequences. Lying only makes it worse. Consider playing a game of Jenga where the blocks represent telling the truth. Give illustrations of times when your children tell you the truth or tell you a lie. Let the blocks remain if the scenario was truthful. If the scenario results in a lie, remove a critical block. When the tower collapses, point out how lying breaks the trust with the people you love.

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Visual 1

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