Granny’s valuable family ring is lost among 500 chocolate cupcakes. Can Lucille and Liz find it before someone else accidentally bites into it?
Before You ListenTheme: Show mercy to others, as God has shown mercy to you.
1. In Matthew 18:21-22 Jesus tells Peter he should forgive seventy-seven times! Can you think of a time when you needed to forgive someone when they seemed to be doing the same mean thing over and over again? Was it easy or hard to do? Why?
2. Can you imagine forgiving someone as they are hurting you? This is exactly what Jesus did. Read Luke 23:33-34. While Jesus is hanging on the cross, he begins to pray. He asks his father God to forgive the people who had put him there. He said they didn’t know what they were doing. Think about what Jesus tells you about forgiveness as you listen to the program.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
In this episode, Granny forgives Liz even though he could never replace the ring he lost. But later, Liz can’t forgive his friend for breaking his video game. Granny decides to teach Liz a lesson he won’t soon forget.
Forgiving others can be hard especially when you are feeling hurt. When you forgive someone, you are not saying that what they did was ok. You are saying that you will show God’s love to them the same way he has shown love and forgiveness to you. God forgives you of your wrongs because Jesus died on the cross for all of your sins! How amazing is that? But, there is a second part to this forgiveness. You also need to forgive others just like Christ forgave you. That’s the hard part!
Forgiveness is a decision that you have to make. You may not want to forgive. But God can help you if you ask him to.
Want to dig deeper about forgiveness? Read Romans 12:18, Luke 11:4 and Colossians 3:13
You will need an adult’s permission and help for this challenge. You will also need food coloring and bleach. Use a clear glass vase or container. Fill it ¼ full with water. Think of some things that you have done wrong or someone else has done wrong to you. Add some different drops of food colouring to the water to represent these wrongs. What happens to the water with all of these wrongs in it?Ask an adult to pour a cup of bleach. This is like forgiveness. Have the adult (or you with the adult’s permission) pour the bleach into the water and gently stir. What happens? When we forgive each other, we work toward making things clean. And God truly can make things clean again through the power of Jesus’ great sacrifice on the cross!
Share with an adult your ideas on forgiveness, both from God and the forgiveness you have for others. Together pray and ask God for courage and strength to forgive others and thank God that he forgives you!