Kindness

Day 1-Ruth and Boaz, Part 1

  • Pray.
  • Review the memory verse. When they get to kindness, have them say it as loud as they can.
  • Ask, “How has someone shown kindness to you? How has God shown kindness to you? How have you shown kindness to others?”
  • We are going to take the next two days to read through a whole book of the Bible! Ruth is a book of the Bible that has many examples of kindness. As you read, have your children listen closely for examples of kindness. You can read this book like you read a storybook, stopping every once in a while to summarize, clarify, and check for understanding.
  • Read or summarize Ruth 1.
  • Check for understanding:
    • What is a famine? (1:1)
    • Why were they going back to Judah? (1:6)
    • What kindness is shown in this chapter?
      • How does God show His kindness? (1:6)
      • How does Naomi show kindness? (1:8-10)
      • How does Ruth show kindness? (1:8, 16-17)
  • Read or summarize Ruth 2.
  • Check for understanding:
    • Explain that to ‘glean’ was to basically pick up the stalks of grain that were left after the reapers had gathered their grain. (2:2-7)
    • What kindness is show in this chapter?
      • How does God show His kindness? (2:12, 20)
      • How does Ruth show kindness? (2:11, 17-18)
      • How does Boaz show kindness? (2:8-9, 14-16)
  • Ask, “How does God want you to show kindness today?”
  • Have each child pray silently, asking God to help them show kindness today.

Day 2-Ruth and Boaz, Part 2

  • Pray.
  • Review the memory verse.
  • Ask, “What do you think will happen next in the story of Ruth?”
  • Read or summarize Ruth 3-4. Pause throughout to clarify and check for understanding. This could be a good story to use toy people as the characters.
  • Check for understanding:
    • Redeem-to buy back; to free from distresses or harm (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redeem)
      • When a woman’s husband died, a relative would buy the property of the one who died and marry the widow if she had no children. This was a law that God gave to help widows who had no one to take care of them and provide for their needs. (Deuteronomy 25, Leviticus 25)
    • What kindness is shown in this chapter?
      • How does Naomi show kindness? (3:1-4, 18)
      • How does Ruth show kindness? (3:10)
      • How does Boaz show kindness? (3:11-13)
      • How does God show kindness? (4:13-14, 17)
  • Ask, “How does God show His kindness to us?”
  • Older kids can look up and discuss Titus 3:4-6.
  • Ask, “What can you do to show kindness to the people in our family? to your friends? to you neighbors? to people you don’t know?”
  • Activity:
    • Write letters to mail to friends or family.
    • Search “kindness activities for kids” on Pinterest to find a ton of great ideas for all ages.
  • A few weeks ago, my family was blessed by the kindness of my best friend. After being cooped up in the house during our “shelter in place” time, we walked outside one morning and found a HUGE game of Chutes and Ladders chalked on our driveway! Check out these other ideas: