LESSON 5
MADE FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Teacher Preparation + Resources
Review each element of this lesson in advance—especially the T-chart exercise, Scripture readings, and discussion questions. Spend time praying over your group, asking the Holy Spirit to give you insight into their relationships and to prepare your own heart to guide them toward healthy relationships with God and others.
Presentation
Download Presentation
Student Guide
Download Student Guide
Download All
Download All Lesson Files
Lesson Summary
This lesson invites students to reflect on their relationships and how they impact their identity as disciples. Through the Scripture discussion, "righteousness" and "reconciliation" will be defined and explained, helping students gain the wisdom they need to apply these biblical concepts to their relationships with God and others. This lesson also introduces the practice of daily Scripture reading as a way that disciples grow in their relationship with God.
Main Point
God created you for healthy relationships with him and others, and your relationship with God will also shape your relationships with others.
Lesson Objectives
- Students will reflect on what it looks like for disciples to pursue healthy relationships.
- Students will practice reading and discussing Scripture in small groups.
Teaching Tips
A healthy classroom begins with a healthy teacher. Sharing positive habits or changes in your own life is a powerful way to lead a healthy example for your students.
Materials Needed
Extra papers & pens
A whiteboard or poster board
Getting Started 15 minutes
Slide 2
Welcome Discussion
Start class by inviting students to share how their practice of praying Scripture and/or resting in Jesus' presence went last week. (This can happen in small groups or as a class.)
If students are hesitant to share, encourage them by sharing your own experiences: How have you encountered the Lord in prayer and through his Word this week?
Slide 3
Introduction
Icebreaker Question
Ask
Think about your favorite TV shows, movies, or books. Who is a relationship duo—friends, family, or romantic partners—you really admire? Why?
Take a few responses.
Say
Relationships are a big part of life, and they shape the people we become. Today, we will explore what it means to have healthy relationships as followers of Jesus.
Say
Draw a T-chart on the whiteboard. Label one column "Green Flags" and the other "Red Flags."
Ask
What are the qualities of a healthy relationship?
Write their answers under Green Flags. Answers may include clear communication, patience, forgiveness, trust, respect, etc.
Ask
What are some qualities of a toxic relationship?
Write their answers under Red Flags. Answers may include manipulation, selfishness, dishonesty, jealousy, lack of communication, controlling behavior, etc.
Say
Even in good relationships, things can get messy because of sin. Sin turns our focus inward, so we care more about fulfilling our selfish desires than loving and serving others. But God created you for healthy relationships with him and others. Today, we are going to explore what that looks like.
Digging In 30 minutes
Slide 4
Say
Have you heard the word "righteousness" before? The Bible uses this word frequently, but what do you think it means?
Take a few responses.
Slide 5
Say
To be righteous means to live in right relationships—with God, others, and all of creation. Perfect righteousness in the midst of a sinful world is what Jesus demonstrated through his life, and it is what he calls his disciples to pursue.
Slide 7
Interpret
Ask
What does it mean to "hunger and thirst" for right relationships?
Call on a few volunteers to share. Then, unpack the metaphor of "hungering and thirsting." We need food and drink to survive, so our body craves them. But we often satisfy our cravings with junk foods. Just as the food we eat shapes our bodies (i.e., "You are what you eat."), the relationships we participate in shape our identities.
Optional Follow-Up Question
How do you see people satisfying their craving for right relationships in unhealthy ways? What are the relationship equivalents of "junk food"?
Answers may include filling their loneliness with social media, codependency, compromising their values to gain approval, seeking affection through casual sex, etc.
Ask
What does it mean to be merciful in relationships? Give examples.
Call on a few volunteers to share. Then, explain that mercy is more than treating people rightly or fairly. Mercy means treating people with kindness and forgiveness even when they do not deserve it.
Slide 9
Say
Another big word we see in the Bible is reconciliation. Reconciliation is about healing broken relationships. In 2 Corinthians, Paul explained how God brings us reconciliation through Jesus so we can do the same for others.
Slide 11
Observe
Ask
What has God done for us through Jesus?
Slide 12
Interpret
Ask
What does it mean to "become a new person"? How does a relationship with God change someone?
Slide 13
Ask
What is the connection between mercy and reconciliation?
Point out verse 19: In order to heal our relationship with him, God had to choose not to count our sins against us. Mercy—undeserved kindness and forgiveness—is necessary for healing and maintaining right relationships because people will always fall short.
Slide 14
Ask
What does it mean that God gives us the task and message of reconciliation?
Bring the large group Scripture discussion to a close by emphasizing that students have an active role to play in embodying and sharing reconciliation with others.
Slide 15
Apply
Have students turn to two or three classmates to discuss the following questions.
Say
As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, he transforms us to become more like him—that includes loving, forgiving, and relating to others as he does. In small groups, reflect on the following questions.
Ask
Think about a tough relationship in your life. How can you practice being merciful in that situation? How could God bring healing through your mercy?
Ask
Do you recognize any "red flags" in how you treat others? What steps do you need to take to repent and seek righteousness instead?
After a few minutes, bring students' attention back to the large group.
Practicing Life with Jesus 15 minutes
Slide 16
Say
Your most important relationship is with God. When that relationship is strong, it overflows into your other relationships. Communication is key in any relationship. Over the past few weeks, we have talked about prayer—how we speak to God. Now, we are shifting our focus to one of the main ways God speaks to us: through his Word.
Say
When we read Scripture, God meets us there, teaching, convicting, and guiding us. But if you have spent much time studying the Bible, you might have noticed that it can be confusing!
Say
A good rule to remember when reading Scripture is that before you can understand how it applies to your life, you must first understand it on its own terms. This starts with simple observation, which we will practice right now. In the coming weeks, we will move on to the next steps: interpretation and application.
Slide 17
Teach the following steps to your students. Encourage students to write them down in their journals and follow them as they practice reading Scripture throughout the week:
Step 1: Begin your time with prayer.
Step 2: Read the passage silently, then aloud.
Step 3: Observe what is going on in the text using the following questions:
- Who, what, when, where?
- How does this passage fit within the broader story or passage it is part of?
- What is interesting or confusing?
Slide 18
Response
Have students read John 3:16-21 in small groups, following the steps you outlined.
Afterward, if time allows, invite a few groups to share their observations.
Closing
Encourage students to use the steps they learned to read Scripture this week. Wrap up the class by praying over your students.
