This woman was guilty of sin, and according to everyone around her, she deserved punishment. But Jesus was the perfect example of grace or undeserved favor. The Bible doesn’t say what happened to the woman after that. But we can bet her life was changed because of Jesus’ grace and mercy.
Your life has been changed because of Jesus’ grace too. He willingly gave his life on the cross for your sins so you could have everlasting life.
We can have that same grace toward those who do wrong against us. Remember: We all make mistakes. We’re all works in progress. Showing grace releases those who wrong us from guilt and shame and us from resentment and unforgiveness. That’s life-changing!
Teach It: Grab a dry-erase board and some markers. Ask your children to write down some examples of sin. Then erase the sins from the board. Talk them through how Jesus erases our sins and shows us grace and through the importance of showing the same grace to others.
5. Faith
To follow after Jesus, we must have faith in him. What does that mean? We must have trust and confidence in him and who he is. Let’s flip to Luke 8.
Here, we find Jesus surrounded by a large crowd of people. We can imagine the roar of the crowd as they pressed in, clamoring for his attention. But one woman, who had been bleeding for 12 years, was desperate for healing.
In faith, she pressed through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. Instantly, her bleeding stopped. Jesus felt the release of power and soon noticed the woman. He looked at her and said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace” (Luke 8:48, NIV).
The woman’s faith led to her healing. Our faith is powerful too! Jesus tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible (Matthew 17:20). With faith, we can experience everything Jesus has for us, from healing to peace to forgiveness.
Teach It: Kids love object lessons! Grab a chair and something to use as a blindfold. Have your child put on the blindfold and stand in front of the chair. Then ask them to sit. Explain that while they couldn’t see the chair, they knew it was there and had faith that it would catch them. We can have faith that Jesus is with us too and will catch us just the same.
6. Joy
What do you think when you hear the word “joy?” Maybe you think of someone belly-laughing after hearing a joke or a child gleefully playing with their favorite toy. Joy often looks like happiness to us, but it’s so much more!
Let’s consider King David. This man of God wrote many of the psalms we know and love. At the same time, he went through some really hard things. He faced Goliath (1 Samuel 17), committed adultery, which brought about its own consequences (2 Samuel 11) and lost a child (2 Samuel 12).
But through it all, David kept his eyes on God. In many of the psalms, David begins by lamenting about his troubles but ends in praise. Psalm 13:1 (NIV) reads, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” But Psalm 13:6 (NIV) reads, “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.”
David had joy. Even in the midst of difficult circumstances, he was content with and comforted by his relationship with the Heavenly Father. Happiness comes and goes based on what’s happening in our lives. But joy in the Father lasts!
Joy comes from knowing and finding pleasure in who Jesus is to us. It comes from knowing that no matter what happens, he will never change.
Teach It: The next time your child is going through something hard, take a moment to breathe with them. Then ask them to tell you some good things they have or are experiencing despite the hard things. Remind them that although the situation is tough, Jesus is with us through it all, and we can rejoice in that truth.