Teaching Your Kids About Mercy
Email 1
Copy/Paste the following email:
Subject Line: Mercy and Parenting, Part One
Dear Parents,
The Bible tells us that God desires mercy over sacrifice. In other words, he’d much rather we show mercy to one another than ask forgiveness (offer a sacrifice) for not doing so. You know what this means, don’t you? It means you need to teach your children this basic principle of extending God’s love to others.
Teaching mercy isn’t always easy because we don’t always know how to distinguish between mercy and turning a blind eye to what is happening around us. But thanks to the help of our parenting video (Insert link and other pertinent information), you will now be better able to distinguish between the two as Christ does. The result? A positive difference in your home.
Please take the time to watch the video and feel free to contact me with questions, comments, and suggestions you have. I am here to serve you & your family.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/149008879/b3dccf4b91
Thanking God for his mercy,
Children’s Pastor
Email 2
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Subject Line: Mercy and Parenting, Part 2
Dear Parents,
Mercy—offering forgiveness or overlooking someone’s ill will or misdeed ‘just because’. For most people that’s not an easy concept to grasp much less live. But mercy is exactly what Jesus extended to each of us.
The parenting video that goes with this lesson is meant to help you understand what it means to extend mercy to your children; making your home a home where God reigns. Have you watched it yet?
Teaching mercy to your children is a great way to show “I love you just because”—just like Jesus did for us. But how?
1. One of the best ways to do this is to extend mercy to your child. Are they having a bad day? If so, say, “I can see you’re having a bad day, so how about I do some of your chores for you.” Or “You really hurt my feelings when you said that (or acted like that), but I want you to know I love you and that I’m not going to hold it against you.” Or “What’s done is done. Let’s just work together to get past it instead of bringing it up over and over again.”
2. Another way to teach your children about mercy is to give them opportunities to show mercy. While the people who receive the benefit of your services and gifts aren’t generally in need of your forgiveness (which is the most common definition of mercy), mercy is also defined as compassion. You can extend mercy/compassion as a family by donating clothing and food to people in need and by volunteering your hands-on service during times of natural disasters.
We are all in need of God’s mercy and thankfully he has showered us with it. Let’s be sure we do the same thing by honoring his Word as written in the following verses:
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ~Matthew 5:7
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. ~Hebrews 4:16
Remember, I’m here to help.
In Christ,
Children’s Pastor
Video Script
Teaching Your Kids About Mercy
Do you remember that game we played as children called “Mercy”? It sounds like a really peaceful game, but it was actually pretty violent.
Two kids would clasp hands and then proceed to test their strength by trying to bend the other person’s wrist until they finally gave up and yelled, “MERCY!”
Unfortunately, for a lot of kids that’s about the extent of what they learn about the word, Mercy.
But, because your child lives in a faith-filled family they have the opportunity to learn so much more about what that word means.
Mercy, by definition, is to offer someone something that they don’t deserve. Just to be honest, Mercy doesn’t come very natural to us as humans. We tend to be pretty selfish by nature. It’s actually kind of hard for a lot of us to see someone get what they don’t deserve.
Micah 6:8 is a pretty great goal for the type of person you’d like your child to become. Just listen to this.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
So how do we help our kids to “love mercy”. Here are three ideas that might help…
First, Look for opportunities to show your child mercy. Actually, you don’t have to look that hard. Throughout the day there are plenty of opportunities to give your child something that they don’t deserve. Maybe instead of giving them a timeout during the day, you can say “Because of the choice you just made, you deserve a time out. But do you remember that word I taught you earlier today? The word was ‘mercy’ and it means that you get something that you don’t deserve. God shows mercy to us, and right now I want to show mercy to you. You don’t have a “time out” this time, but please make a better decision next time.”
Unfortunately, you can’t offer mercy every time. God himself, allows us to experience the consequences of our choices, but every once in a while it’s a great thing to let your child experience mercy in their every day life.
Second, Catch your kid offering mercy. Keep your eyes open for an opportunity to celebrate your child when they offer mercy to a sibling or a friend. If this ever happens, make it a big deal and celebrate your child. Say something like, “When you showed mercy to your friend, you reminded me of the way God shows mercy to us. I’m very proud of that!”
Third, Tell your story of how God showed you Mercy. The idea of God showing mercy is a hard concept for a child to understand. So tell your story of “God’s mercy” to your child whenever they will listen. Don’t just tell it once, tell it to them again and again. Make sure to say something like, “God choice to forgive me of my mistakes. He gave me His love when I didn’t deserve it. I’m so grateful for God’s mercy.” When your child hears your story of receiving God’s mercy on a regular basis, they’ll start to understand over time that God wants to offer them that very same Mercy. And that, is the greatest gift of all.
Texts/Tweets
TIP: Choose a hashtag for your tweets and use it consistently. That will tell Twitter to store a list of your tweets on one place for later reference.
Tweet One: Everybody has a bad day now and then-even your kids. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Two: Nobody’s perfect…not even you. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Three: Give mercy to get mercy #gracefulparenting
Tweet Four: Give your kids a break and show a little mercy #gracefulparenting
Tweet Five: Aren’t you glad God isn’t as unforgiving as we are? #gracefulparentiing
Tweet Six: Second chances are important. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Seven: Lord, give me the mercy I need to deal with my child. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Eight: Kids deserve mercy, too. No, really, they do. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Nine: I’m not a perfect parent so I won’t have perfect kids. #gracefulparenting
Tweet Ten: I know I can…I know I can…show mercy to my kids. #gracefulparenting