If your class is meeting online, email the template for families to print ahead of time. Invite students to bring printouts and other supplies with them to class. The template can be found here. Create a slide or Word document of the Zechariah 8:16 memory verse. Underneath the memory verse, write the lesson focus: It takes courage to be truthful. If you are in a classroom, write these on a board.

Point to the board (or share your screen). Today we’ve learned that God wants us to speak truth, and that sometimes doing that takes courage.

• Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to say something that was not entirely true so that you would not hurt someone’s feelings? How do you think God feels about that? (Answers will vary. Jesus taught that we should love and be kind to one another, but there is no such thing as a “white” lie.)
• How might you rephrase an answer so as not to hurt someone’s feelings and yet remain truthful? For instance, if someone got a haircut that you didn’t like and asked you what you thought, how might you answer appropriately? (Answers will vary, but help them think of truthful positives they can say that forego negative opinion such as “That looks like it will be nice and cool for the summer” or “That makes you look [older/younger]” or “How fun!” If pressed into giving their opinion, they might say something like, “You know, I don’t think that would look good on me, but I bet you’ll like it.”)
• When would you say it is most important to speak truth? (Accept all answers and encourage discussion.)
• When is it hard for you to be courageous about telling the truth? (Allow preteens to share candidly.)

 Ask students to get out the TRUTH poster you sent or pass out the TRUTH poster copies. If you are in a virtual setting, show the poster on your screen.

Courage to tell the truth is something we need every day—at the beginning when we first wake up, throughout the busy hours when the pace picks up, in the evening during conversations with parents or interaction with teammates if you are into sports, and at night as you drift off to sleep. 

Encourage your students to write things that will remind them or encourage them toward truthfulness. Invite students to color their poster during the week. Urge your students to place the poster somewhere that will remind them to keep on telling the truth.

When class time is finished, close with prayer.

Text or email with students during the week. Check to see how they are doing with telling the truth. If needed, remind them that it takes courage to get around a challenge. They can follow Zechariah 8:16.