Loving and Accepting Others James 2:1-17 We honor one another without showing favoritism.
All people are created in God’s image and loved by Him. Unfortunately, we sometimes treat people
differently, showing partiality or judging others based on appearances or possessions rather than
intrinsic value. James warned the people of the day not to show favoritism to certain people, but to love
others with genuine actions. The same words can be directed at people today. This lesson reminds
children that God sees us all the same, despite our differences, and that all people should be welcome in
church.
The focus of this lesson reminds us that the Gospel is for all people. We all sin, and therefore have no
place to judge what others do. Yet God gives love and mercy to everyone. Regardless of how we look or
how much we have, all are welcome in His family and precious in His sight. The book of James can
sometimes feel like an emphasis on following the law or performing good works. But it isn’t only works
that James urges. Our faith is proved genuine by the state of our hearts. When we truly love God and
others, it is easily evidenced by daily actions.
Sunday School Lesson on James 2:1-17 for Children: Loving and Accepting Others
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade (Adjustable according to audience)
Materials Needed: Pictures of various types of people; hole punch; glue; markers/crayons; ribbon; pipe cleaners; construction paper; tape; scissors; decorative supplies; Bibles
Lesson Opening: This lesson focuses on what it means to be genuine as Christians, following God’s instructions to love and serve others without judgement. Start off with some activities to get your students thinking. Here are some suggested ideas:
- “Playing Favorites Isn’t Fun”: open up with an activity that highlights the frustration of playing favorites. Choose a trait (eye or hair color, or clothing style) or give students a sticker or note to designate their team. Make certain rules about something simple like lining up or receiving a treat, and make sure to favor certain students over others. Explain that it’s not fun to be on the receiving end of favoritism, and we don’t want to be demonstrating it either.
- Special Facts Swap: To remember and emphasize that all people are unique and special, have students come up with an interesting unknown fact about themselves. For younger students, simply share the facts. To make it harder for older kids, have them write down their fact and share anonymously for others to guess. For another fun variation on this activity, provide students with a colored candy like a Skittle or M&M, and have them share a fact according to the color they received (for example, favorite vacation spot for yellow or number of pets for green).
- Actions speak louder than words: play a game of charades to allow students to act out what they would normally say. For extra story relation, offer ways to help others for the students to act out.
- All are Welcome Tag: Play this game similar to “Sharks and Minnows,” best in a large outdoor area. Have students line up on one side of the playing field with one or two students on the other end as “it.” Students will call out “Can we come over?” The “it” caller will announce a trait, like hair color or boys/girls, and those who fit into the category will attempt to run past without being tagged. If tagged, they become part of the caller team. Now and then, have the “its” call “All are Welcome” for all students to run at once.
Explain that this lesson focuses on our responsibility as Christians to treat people with fairness, love, and respect, no matter who they are.
Bible Lesson:
This passage is from the book of James. As an epistle, it’s not one that is easily acted out, but still important to discuss and pretty easy to understand. Have older students take turns reading, or read out loud for younger ones. Pause at intervals to discuss what the verses mean.
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? -James 2:1-4
If students are not already familiar, explain that the author of James was (accurately enough) James, who was a brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem. He knew that it was important to “practice what you preach” and live in a way that reflected God’s commands. The problem described in these verses is, unfortunately, not unique to the church back then. It’s something that people still do sometimes. We might see people come into church, or in other places, and we make assumptions about them without knowing who they really are. We might even treat people differently because we think they have more money or power than someone else. We emphasize the wrong things and make decisions without knowing facts. Of course, in God’s eyes, all are the same. He loves us and creates us all, and wants us to treat others with love and respect.
Ask: Have you ever made an assumption about someone based on appearance?
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
-James 2:5-9
These verses remind us that God doesn’t play favorites based on money. In fact, it’s more likely that people who have less wealth are richer in faith, because they have opportunities that force them to rely on the Lord. Note that this doesn’t mean we don’t treat the rich people nicely at all; we just shouldn’t treat them vastly different or better than anyone else. God’s law calls us to love our neighbor, whoever they are and however much money they have.
Ask: What are some ways that we can show love to our neighbors?
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. -James 2:10-13
These verses might seem a little tough to swallow at first, but they remind us that we don’t get to pick and choose which of God’s laws we follow. We can’t simply decide that some of the rules aren’t convenient or don’t need to be obeyed. In the eyes of the legal system, there are certainly some wrongs that are weighed as worse than others, but in God’s view, sin is sin no matter what. This explains why it’s not our place to judge other people. We all fall short of the glory of God. We all sin and make mistakes. It can be tempting to think we know better than someone else, but at the end of the day only God should be judging.
Ask: What is an example of showing mercy to someone who might not deserve it?
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[ is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. -James 2:14-17
This is another passage that can be a little bit tricky, because we know that our works do not save us. However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do good things. We are saved by faith, through Christ. But as evidence of that faith, we need to be honoring and obeying God, which includes taking care of His people. A “dead” faith might be shown by ignoring the needs of others, or talking a good game without actually caring for them. Faith that is living and active not only says “I hope you get what you need,” but provides what others need.
Ask: Can you think of people in our community who are in need? How can we help them?
Encourage students to identify ways of caring for others and live out this passage. Again, the idea is not to enforce guilt or emphasize good deeds, but to consider how we can obey Scripture by how we live our lives and serve others. We show God’s love to others by accepting them for who they are and taking care of all kinds of people. We show His love by helping them and providing what they need!
Close with prayer and thank God for His mercy and grace. Ask for His help in passing that on to those around us.