If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring supplies with them to class. On the whiteboard (or screenshared document), display the SOAP acronym below:

S: Scripture (Write out the Scripture you’re studying.)
O: Observation (What do you observe about the Scripture?)
A: Application (How can you apply the Scripture in your life?)
P: Prayer (Pray through the Scripture, asking God for wisdom and revelation.)

Earlier, Abram taught us what it looks like to “live at peace with everyone” just as our memory verse reminds us in Romans. (Ask a volunteer to read the memory verse aloud.)

Abram gave us a perfect example of what it looks like to actively live out God’s instructions to live peaceably with others. Abram walked with God. He wasn’t just working hard to get along with his nephew; he wanted to live at peace with Lot because of his relationship with God.

We will never be able to be as good, loving, or kind to others as Jesus is. We’re human. What we need is more of Jesus. The more we fill ourselves with Jesus, the more His love, His peace, and His kindness will pour out of us. We’ll begin to experience this the closer we grow to Him through prayer and reading His Word.

Tell your students that today they will be making a guide they can use to spend quiet time with God each day. Spending time with God every day will allow them to get to know God on a personal level. Tell them during that time they can read the Bible, pray, write letters to God, and journal things God is teaching them in His Word and through prayer. The more they grow closer to Christ, the more He will pour out of their lives toward others.

Distribute supplies (or invite students to have them ready at home). Have students copy the SOAP method onto their paper. Share that this method can help guide them in ways they can study the Bible and pray during their quiet time each day. Talk students through each letter of the acronym using the questions and prompts in parentheses at the beginning of this step.

• Why is it important to spend time alone with God, reading the Bible, and praying each day? (Answers: God will teach us who He is; we will grow closer to God the more time we spend with Him, it will become easier to get along with others when we see them the way Jesus sees them, etc.)

Many times our issues with difficult people have more to do with us than them. God can always remove the problem if He chooses, but many times He is working on something in us through these situations. The more we walk with God, the more His Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will show us how to love those who are difficult. We might not be able to love our siblings the right way, but Jesus can!

The answer for any problem we come across is always Jesus. We need more of Jesus. As you come across problems and difficulties with others this week, instead of working harder to solve them, go back to the Source. In your quiet time with God, pour out your heart to Him in prayer about these situations, listen to the words He shares with you as you read your Bible, and write down in your journal anything God is teaching you or speaking to you. Then obey what He tells you to do just as Abram obeyed God. Watch how God begins to change your heart toward others as you walk closer with Him. He will be your strength and will teach you how to live peacefully with everyone.

Encourage students to use this method at home, along with a sheet of paper or journal, to study God’s word at home. You can also suggest to students that they can get an extra spiral bound notebook to use as a prayer journal when they go back-to-school shopping.

Pray to close.