Be Careful What You Say

Sing the song “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes.”

This morning we sang the song “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes.” We also mentioned the ears, mouth, mind, hands and feet. Today I want to talk more about the mouth. (Turn over the easel board showing the “happy” and “grumpy” pumpkins.)

I am not good at drawing people, so I thought of pumpkins because it’s October and we sometimes put faces on pumpkins. These pumpkins represent people – you, me, and everyone. (Call up 8 students who were previously given sentence strips.)

Remember that I said we were going to talk about the verse, “Oh be careful little mouth what you say.” My helpers are going to read what we sometimes hear people say and then you decide which pumpkin said those words ~ the happy pumpkin or the grumpy pumpkin. (Children read the sentences and put them next to the appropriate pumpkin as called out by the audience.)

1. Where did you get that weird old-looking sweater? (grumpy)

2. You look nice today. Is that a new sweater? (happy)

3. You have an ugly old bike. Don’t you just hate it? (grumpy)

4. I know your bike belonged to your older brother, but it’s still in good condition. I bet you’re glad you have it. (happy)

5. That job you’re doing is so easy. You’re must be a wimp if you can’t do it. (grumpy)

6. May I help you with that job. It’s always easier when two people work together. (happy)

7. Go away and leave me alone. (grumpy)

8. May I please be alone for a while? We can talk later. (happy)

Thank you, helpers. You may sit down. I think my helpers have done a good job of showing how much nicer it is to say a kind word. I’m sure you would agree that having your feelings hurt is not the way you would want to be treated. You need to remember how you would feel when you say something hurtful to someone else.

Who was the only “Perfect Pumpkin” that God created? JESUS! That’s right. That means that you and I are not perfect pumpkins and sometimes happy and kind people say something they shouldn’t. (Move one of the unkind sentences from the grumpy pumpkin over to the happy pumpkin.)

When that happens, we should ask God to forgive us and apologize to the person we hurt.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for our wonderful bodies that You created. Help us to think of our bodies as a temple and to praise and glorify You. Help us to think before we speak and to not use our words to hurt others. Help us to use our tongues to encourage each other and to witness to others as children of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.