Ask This
Is there someone at school who looks or acts differently from most of your friends? How do others treat them? How do you think they feel?
(Guide this discussion around how people with special needs or noticeable challenges may sometimes be treated.)
Watch This
Show this movie clip from the film Wonder, about a little boy named Auggie who has a facial difference. Pay attention to what the dark-haired boy, Julian, assumes about Auggie before he really knows anything about him.
Ask This
What did Julian assume? (He assumed Auggie wasn’t smart because he was homeschooled.) Was that right? How do you think Auggie felt? Why do you think we sometimes make quick judgments about people who are different from us? Why is it easy to assume something about others based only on what we see? Have you ever had someone make an assumption about you that wasn’t true? How did it make you feel?
Say This
We do this too. We can look at how someone dresses, talks, acts, learns, or looks and decide we already know their story. But God sees something we don’t always see.
Do This
Take your Bible and open it to 1 Samuel 16. As you do...
Say This
There’s a story in the Bible about how God chose the second king of Israel. His name was David. God told the prophet Samuel to go to the house of Jesse, and God would show him who would be king. As Samuel looked at Jesse’s sons, God reminded him that He looks at people differently than we do.
Read This
1 Samuel 16:7
Ask This
What does God look at? (The heart.) What do you think that means?
Say This
God made every person unique. Some people have challenges that are easy for us to see, and sometimes we don’t understand why. But if we believe 1 Samuel 16:7 is true, then we know God sees beyond those challenges. He sees the person. He sees their heart. And God can work through every person and every circumstance to bring honor to His name.