No Talking
Assign your children a task (clean the kitchen; take out the trash; give the dog a bath; clean their room; etc). Tell them they must complete the task together WITHOUT talking.
After they have finished, ask them:
Was the job harder or easier to do when you couldn’t talk? Why?
Students using the D6 curriculum learned about the Tower of Babel, so ask them to tell you the story (Genesis 11:1-9).
Ask:
Why did the people quit building the tower? (They couldn’t understand each other.)
What did the people want to do? (Make a tower to heaven; make a name for themselves; etc.)
The people were full of pride. What is pride? (Wanting to go your own way; thinking you have a better plan than God; thinking you are better than others; lifting up yourself; etc.)
Why did God confuse their languages? (To keep them from completing the task)
Why is pride so bad? (It wants us to go our own way and leads us away from God; it makes us think about ourselves instead of God or others; it pushes God and others away from us; etc.)
God scattered the people by confusing their language. Their plan was to become famous, but that plan did not please or honor God. When God confused their language, the plans for the tower stopped. Our job is to glorify God, not ourselves.
Build it
Items Needed: Assortment of food items to make a tower (cookies, pretzel sticks, graham crackers, and peanut butter or icing for glue); paper plates (to build the towers on)
After dinner, put the food items on the table and ask each family member to build a tower.
As you are building, ask:
Why did the people want to build a tower? (To show others what they could do; so others would praise and notice them; etc.)
Why is pride so bad? (It leads us away from God; it makes us think about ourselves instead of God or others; etc.)
How do we act proud? (Thinking we are better than others; bragging about all we can do; talking about ourselves all the time instead of listening to others; thinking our way is better than what God has said; etc.)
What is the opposite of pride? (Humility)
How can we be humble? (Knowing that God’s way is best and following His way; working together to do His work; paying attention and caring about others; letting others go first; etc.)
God wanted the people to follow Him, but instead they went their own way. God’s way is always best.
Enjoy eating your towers!
Pride Squashers
One of the best ways to deal with pride is to think of others. Brainstorm with your family to think of a way to show kindness to someone else. Then do it.
Ideas:
Make up a basket of goodies, take it to a friend’s house, ring the doorbell and hide.
Make a meal (and cards) for a sick or lonely person and take it to him.
Color pictures and deliver them to patients at a nursing home.
Ask the store clerk what her favorite candy bar is and buy it for her.
Invite your neighbors to church and to lunch afterwards.
Write each family member’s name on a slip of paper, let each one draw a secret friend, and do something nice (secretly) for that person every day this week. Reveal identities at the end of the week.