What Do You Think?

TEXT: Genesis 6:5-7; Psalm 119:113; Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:8

"Charlie said I don't have a brain in my head!" Janie stormed to her mother. "I do so, don't I, Mom?"

"Yes, Janie," her mother smiled. "Of course you do. Your brother was only teasing you."

"Well, I told him I did have a brain, but he just laughed. How can I show him I do, Mom?"

"Well, calm down for now, Janie," her mother said. "You can't show him your brain. But all the things you are able to do prove that you have one."

Janie looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"When God made us," said her mother, "He gave us a mind. That's the most important part of our brain. Our mind is what helps us remember things. That is called our memory. That way we are able to learn things. We can learn to read and memorize Bible verses. We can learn to sing new songs. We can learn to tie our shoes and ride a bike."

Her mother went on. "Sometimes you may feel sad—like when Charlie teases you. Sometimes you may feel happy - like when Daddy takes us to a park. We have feelings like that because God gave us a mind.

"And one very important part about our mind is our thoughts," she continued. "Sometimes you might think about sad things. You may even start to feel sorry for yourself. If that happens you had better be careful. The devil wants you to think about sad things. And sometimes he tries to give you scary thoughts. The devil likes it when you are scared. But in our Bible, the Apostle Paul says we should only think about things that are good.

"You already know, Janie, that you should always tell the truth. And you know that you should never say bad things about another person, even if they are true. But did you know that it isn't even good for you to think about things that are false? And you should never think bad things about someone else. And if you ever feel scared, you can start singing a good song, like 'Jesus Loves Me.' Or you can just start thanking Jesus for all the things He has done for you. If we will think about the good things, we will have perfect peace. That is a promise from God!"

"Well, I feel happy right now," laughed Janie. "I am thankful God gave me a mind. And Charlie will believe that I do have a brain when I thank him!"

"What do you mean?" asked her mother. "Why are you going to thank Charlie?"

"Well, I didn't like him at all when he was teasing me. But now I'm glad he did," replied Janie, "because I've learned that I'm much happier if I think only about good things! I'm going to go and find Charlie right now."

PARENT'S CORNER

This lesson will help your child understand that God gave each of us a great gift when He gave us a mind. It is marvelous and complex, and it gives us the ability to do many things.

To zero in on particular skills and functions of the mind, give your child a large piece of paper and a pile of colored squares cut from construction paper. Explain that this week he will build, on paper, as big a tower or building as he can, using the squares of paper. When he does something that his mind made possible (for example, ties his shoes), he may write that on one square and glue it onto his sheet of paper.

At the end of the week, look over the building he has glued together and reinforce once more what a wonderful gift from God our mind is.