There are a lot of differences in this room! You aren’t all the exact same age, and you come from different families. Some of you may have several siblings; others may have none at all. Some of you might have lived in this city all your life and others could have been born in another state or even another country. However, there are a few things that you all definitely have in common.
- Can you think of something everyone in your class has in common? (Answers will vary but may include: Everyone is in the same grade, or everyone has a Bible, everyone loves summer vacation, etc. For fun you might poll your group to find out if everyone loves pizza or ice cream, etc.)
Definitely one thing everyone in this room has in common is that we all struggle sometimes with temptation. Everyone does.
- Who can tell me what temptation is? (Temptation is when we want to do something that we shouldn’t do.)
- Can anyone think of an example of temptation? (Possible answers might include: cheating, lying, stealing, or gossiping.)
Temptations come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, we are tempted to do things that might be okay under certain circumstances but simply aren’t the right thing for us. Other times, the things we are tempted to do are very wrong. Watch the following video closely as you see what happened to some people who gave into temptation to steal something. Play this video for the students [3:18]:
Stupid thief Fails Funny Compilation 2018
https://dcc-web-1.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/RLD+Assets/Stupid+Thief+Fails+Funny+Compilation+2018.mp4
- Why do you think the people in those clips gave in to the temptation to rob or steal? (Possible answers might include: They were greedy, they wanted something that didn’t belong to them, they thought they could get away with it easily, or they thought they needed the money.)
Whatever the reason they were tempted to rob or steal, it would have been much better for them to avoid or resist the temptation.
- What does it feel like to try to resist temptation? (Possible answer: Like nothing else matters than whatever it is that I want.)
- Can anyone tell about a time they successfully resisted temptation? (Answers will vary; be prepared to share your own experience.)
We all struggle with temptation every day, and it’s important to know how to handle it. It’s a good thing for us—we can always be sure there is a way out of temptation when it comes. Let’s find out more.