3 Bible Stories to Teach Your Kids about Kindness
A few years ago as I was asking God to show me how to teach my kids to be kind, I heard him say,
Raise kids who are so aware of others, so confident in their own skin and so thankful for their blessings they can’t help but be kind.
And ever since, this has been my goal. Simple, right? Not really.
Our kids (like us) were born with a sin nature. So it’s not natural for them to choose kindness. Some kids have a more angelic disposition than others but for the most part, kids need to learn and develop kindness as a deeply rooted attitude, not just a behavior.
I spent years teaching my kids to “act kind” instead of nurturing the soil in their hearts that will grow kindness. After hearing this clear direction on how to raise kind kids I decided it was time to take the focus off their outward actions and begin cultivating a spirit of kindness within them. When we help our kids prepare good heart-soil and plant seeds of self-worth, they will relate to others out of an overflow of kindness.
If you want to help your kids understand what it means to kind, focus on these…
3 Bible Stories That Teach Kids about Kindness
The Golden Rule
Luke 6:27-31
Bible Truth: Treat others how you want to be treated.
“Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” It’s a simple directive we should easily remember. And it makes perfect sense. But that doesn’t make it any easier.
Jesus gives this instruction in the midst of his teaching to love our enemies. He’s telling us, “It doesn’t matter what someone else does to you. Love them. Be kind anyway.” Our kindness cannot be based on the actions or attitude of another.
When they come to us with friendship trouble, we always say to our kids, “You cannot control what your friend does or says. You only have control over your words and actions. Choose kindness.”
But what does kindness look and sound like? Jesus tells us clearly in this passage…
Whatever it is you would want someone else to do or say in a situation . . . do or say just that.
Even though kindness isn’t all about our outward actions, it does come out in what we say and do. If we are developing a spirit of kindness deep within our hearts, we will more easily choose to treat others the way we want to be treated.
The more we choose kindness, the more it will become our natural reaction.
Related Memory Verse: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)
The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:29-37
Bible Truth: Love your neighbor.
Jesus tells this story of the Good Samaritan to teach us what it means to love our neighbor.
One day a man was walking along the road and was suddenly robbed, beaten and left hurting. One man passed by and ignored him, and then another. Later, a Samaritan man came upon him and stopped to help. The Bible says the Samaritan man had compassion on him.
After telling this story, Jesus asked, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
The answer, of course, is the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this story as an example of what it means to be kind to others, even those we don’t know who need our help. The Samaritan had compassion for the hurting man and maybe it was because he recognized it could have been him who had been robbed. Perhaps he was so thankful to be safe he just had to help. Whatever his motivation, the Samaritan man chose God’s way of kindness along the road that day.
When we recognize our blessings and our power to help others, we can reach out in kindness to be a good neighbor.
Related Memory Verse: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)
Continue the conversation about loving your neighbor by watching these shows about the Good Samaritan on Minno:
Pahappahooey Island: The Good Island Samaritan
Holy Moly: The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Friends and Heroes: Lost in Alexandria
The Popularity Principle
Proverbs 3:3-6
Bible Truth: Kindness is best!
Right before the very popular verse, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. . .” is one that I believe is the key to kindness and growing a God reputation with friends and leaders in our lives. The Bible says,
“Never let loyalty and kindness leave you . . . then you will find favor and you will earn a good (GOD) reputation.”
There’s nothing wrong with the desire to be liked. We all want to be known and loved. But when our desire to be popular causes us to make bad choices, it’s just not worth it. In this passage, we can see that God’s way of loyalty and kindness will bring about the right kind of popularity – the kind that leads to a good reputation among friends and leaders.
In verses 5 and 6 we read that trusting God will always lead us down the best path. When we’re confident in who God made us to be, we can trust him with our lives.
Choosing kindness may not be “popular” in the moment but the Bible promises it will always lead to our best reputation and the best outcome.
Related Memory Verse: When you are kind to others, you help yourself; when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself. (Proverbs 11:17 MSG)
Want more Bible help to teach your kids about kindness? Download our 5 Bible Memory Verses About Kindness printable.
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