THE TRUTH ABOUT

BEING NICE
Chad Landman // 2011.0102
Go around the group and ask for volunteers to share times when someone
was kind to them. How did that act of kindness impact your day, week
or life?

1. What makes a person nice?

2. Have you ever met someone who was just mean or rude?
3. Why do you think people don’t like being around people who are
mean?
Today we’re going to talk about the truth about being nice. Nobody likes
mean people, but did you know the Bible is clear that we should be nice,
kind, and loving. Sometimes we excuse not being nice for different
reasons: we’re mad, someone deserves to be told off, someone treated us
poorly, etc. But God calls us to a kindness that is not situational.

The goal here is to slam the class with Scriptures. You may not get through them all. Chances are examples will
come up from your own life or the student’s lives. That’s okay. The point of the lesson is to show that this is a moral
issue and that being kind is something Christians are called to be.

Ephesians 4:32
• According this verse, how should we treat one another? (kind, tender-
hearted, forgiving)
• Based on this verse, should we hold grudges, be rude, or not care about
people? (no)
• Why is it that we are called to live like this? (because Jesus did)

There are more examples of this being our motivation in Scripture.

1 John 4:7-11
The point is plain, we should love one another because God loved us
first. Love is talked about over 500 times in Scripture. It’s talked about the
most concerning God’s love for man. But the love we should have for one
another is a common usage as well.

John 13:34-35
• What does this verse say about how we should treat one another? (love)
• What does it mean to treat someone in a loving way?
• What does this verse say will happen if we treat one another that way?
(people will know we belong to)
• When Christians fight, treat each other poorly, or are rude, what do you
think people think? Is it possible they assume we don’t belong to Jesus?
We mentioned earlier that sometimes we justify being mean or rude. What
are some of the reasons we can give to acting unkind and unloving?
(give kids time to answer. Maybe you can share a story about road rage or
being done wrong somehow when you did not show kindness. This will
help them see you are flawed, too.)

1 Peter 3:8-9
• How does this Scripture say we should treat each other? (harmonious,
kind hearted, etc.) What do you think that would look like?
• Does verse 9 condone or speak against revenge? Why do you think that
is?
Revenge is not an excuse to not be kind to someone. Neither is someone
who is hard to get along with. How many of you know someone who is
just hard to get along with. Maybe they’re annoying, too loud, too self-
conscious, or whatever. There’s one in every group (if there’s not one in
your group of friends, it might be you!
Just because someone is difficult to get along with doesn’t mean they are
not worthy of your kindness.
Ephesians 4:2-3
1. Does this verse answer the question of whether or not we should put up
with people who are hard to love? (yes) How so? (by forbearing,
persevering, etc.)
2. Why is this important, according to these verses (because it preserves
unity)
(As time allows, read the following texts, too. The hope here is that the
kids begin to realize the vast amount of passages on love, kindness, and
being nice to people.)
1 John 3:11
1 John 3:23
2 John 1:5
Romans 12:10
Galatians 5:22 (notice here that the Spirit produces kindness)
1 Corinthians 4:13
Proverbs 11:17
Proverbs 14:21
It’s obvious…there are a ton of passages on kindness, niceness, and love.
It is not an optional teaching. It’s not something that we pick and choose
when to do this, either. We should love one another. We should be kind to
those who are hard to be kind to. We should not be rude or inconsiderate.

There’s one more passage that we should hit on that you all know.

Matthew 7:12
This is the Golden Rule, and here Jesus says it is the summarization of all
the Law and the Prophets.
I want to challenge each of you to be nice. If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say it. If you can’t be nice, at least don’t be mean. If someone makes
you mad, don’t return anger for anger. Don’t consider yourself responsible
for revenge for a friend. It almost sounds too simplistic, but just be nice.
This week, I want you to pay close attention to your niceness. If you find
yourself being rude, mean, vengeful, or unkind, stop what you’re doing
and pray that God would help you to be kind and that people would know
you belonged to Jesus because you are being kind to everyone you come
into contact with.

• What are some ways kindness is shown? (words, actions, helping out)
• What are some practical ways to being nice? (please and thank you,
paying compliments, encouraging people, saying nice things, not being
sarcastic, etc.)
Do something nice this week and pray that God would help you to show
kindness. Let’s pray right now we could all do that.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in
Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32