Object Lesson | Car That Can’t Go

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Toy Car, Play-Doh or something that can gunk it up.

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the toy car and ask if any of them have ever had a toy car.  Ask them what their favorite thing to do toy cars.  It is so much fun to race the cars and make them go fast.  Now what happens if in the wheels we gunk it up with play doh?  The wheels don’t spin very well, and it has a hard time moving.  Are you going to be able to win any kind of race with this car?  Probably not.

Explanation: Forgiveness can be the same way.  Let’s imagine for a moment that we are the car.  As this car we are able to race around and share the love that God has for us with other people.  Now all of a sudden when people hurt our feelings and bring pain to our life, it is like getting all that play doh jammed up in the wheels.  We now have a choice.  We can leave that stuff in their where it will harden and get harder and harder to remove, or we can get it out.  With people we have to forgive, because if we don’t, we lose our ability to share God’s love.

Object Lesson | Remove The Pencil

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Pencil

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the pencil.  Ask them if they have ever accidentally poked themselves or got poked by someone with a pencil.  It doesn’t feel good at all.  In fact at times it can really hurt depending on how bad it pokes or stabs.  Now imagine if someone came up to you and stabbed the pencil into your hand.  That would be extremely painful.  Imagine if part of the pencil was still in your hand, would your hand be able to heal?  Most people would go to a doctor or hospital and get the pencil removed so the hand can heal.  Now in that situation who is in more pain, you or the person who stabbed you?  Clearly you are, because you are the one sitting at the hospital with a pencil sticking out of your hand.

Explanation: Being hurt and learning to forgive is exactly the same way.  When someone is mean, or forgets about us, or something else that hurts us it is like getting a pencil thrown in your direction.  There are times where it was just a little poke, and other times it was a stab through the hand.  Now the sad part is that many people decide that they don’t want to get that pencil out.  They want to be mad at the person who hurt them for the rest of their lives.  They take up ever offense they can and hold grudges.  Well over the years a person like that may have pencils sticking out of their hands, back ears, etc.  What they fail to recognize is they are the ones who are allowing the hurts to not heal.  The lack of forgiveness in a persons life ends up hurting themselves more than the ones who applied the hurt in the first place.  If we want to be whole, if we want to be able to love and be loved, then we need to forgive.

Object Lesson | Car That Won't Go

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Toy Car, Play-Doh or something that can gunk it up.

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it... 

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the toy car and ask if any of them have ever had a toy car.  Ask them what their favorite thing to do toy cars.  It is so much fun to race the cars and make them go fast.  Now what happens if in the wheels we gunk it up with play doh?  The wheels don’t spin very well, and it has a hard time moving.  Are you going to be able to win any kind of race with this car?  Probably not.

Explanation: Forgiveness can be the same way.  Let’s imagine for a moment that we are the car.  As this car we are able to race around and share the love that God has for us with other people.  Now all of a sudden when people hurt our feelings and bring pain to our life, it is like getting all that play doh jammed up in the wheels.  We now have a choice.  We can leave that stuff in their where it will harden and get harder and harder to remove, or we can get it out.  With people we have to forgive, because if we don’t, we lose our ability to share God’s love.

Object Lesson | Replace The Inside

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Flashlight, paper, tape

Preparation: Roll up some tape and put it inside the flashlight, replacing the batteries.  Keep the batteries on hand.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: God makes us new!

Illustration: Walk up to the front and show the kids the flashlight.  Ask them what you use a flashlight for.  That’s right! To see in the dark!  Now try to turn on the flashlight (obviously it will not work because there is paper inside it instead of batteries).  Try a few times and wonder allowed what the problem is.  Ask the kids if they can think of what the problem may be.  Now open up the flashlight and reveal the paper on the inside.  Well there is the problem!  A flashlight can’t run on paper, it needs batteries like these (replace the batteries and turn on the flashlight).

Explanation: This is similar to how a lot of people are today.  On the outside they may look good, but the inside needs to be made new by God for them to be all they can be.  Without batteries a flashlight cannot be used for its true purpose.  When we hand lives to God it is like we allow Him to take the paper out of us and replace it with batteries!  We are made new!

Object Lesson | Salt vs Sugar

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Two bowls, some salt, some sugar

Preparation: In one bowl pour a little salt, in the other bowl pour a little sugar.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: It is our actions that identifies who we are!

Illustration: Walk up to the front and tell the kids you need a volunteer.  Show them the two bowls and ask them if they can tell you what is in each bowl just by looking at them.  Both bowls contain something small and white, but you can’t identify what they are just by looking at them.  Have your volunteer taste each bowl and then ask them what is in it.  Salt and sugar!

Explanation: Have the volunteer return to their seat and explain that you couldn’t identify what each were until they were in your mouth and acted on your tongue!  Then anyone could tell almost immediately what each were.  In the same why we can’t really tell who a person truly is just by looking at them.  Until we get to know them, and see their actions we don’t know who they are and what they believe in.  If someone says they really care about people and then go around punching people in the face, then their actions don’t back up who they say they are.  In the same way if we call ourselves Christians, our actions should back that up through our love for others.  We share God’s love in our lives by serving others, just like Jesus!