Free Sunday School lesson for teens and preteens on answering the questions: Are You Different? Living a Life that Reflects Christ using the King James Bible.
Open the lesson with a question: Have you ever met someone who claimed to be a Christian, but they did not act like it?
Give a personal example. I will share an experience that my husband had once. He works in a body shop, and he was talking to his coworkers at lunch one day about going to church and reading the Bible. One of his coworkers, a lady, said she was a Christian, too. My husband was shocked, and this reaction offended the lady. However, the reason my husband was shocked was because this woman bragged about how she broke up a marriage to get her current boyfriend, she and this man now drunk themselves sick every night, she cursed like a sailor, and the discussed all sorts of other nasty, inappropriate things that she and her boyfriend would do.
Now, is it possible that this woman is truly saved? That is between her and God. But, she certainly was not acting like it.
My husband – along with everyone else in the body shop – was shocked because, even if people won’t admit it, they have expectations of Christians.
People have expectations of Christians.
What are some expectations that people have of Christians? (Have your students help you make a list.)
Even when someone accepts Christ into their heart to save them, they still have that old nature.
Do Christians still mess up?
Do saved people still sin?
Of course they do!
However, we are called by God to be set apart, or different. Why? Because how else will people come to Christ?
If we behaved just like everyone else in the world, why would anyone want what we have? If having a relationship with Christ does not make someone different, why would someone want it?
The truth is, being saved can make someone different, but that all depends on the person.
Two Natures
Every person has two natures. Even movies and TV shows know this because they give the illustration of the angel and the devil on a person’s shoulders, trying to convince them to do right or wrong.
(For this illustration, you can have students draw a good dog and an evil dog and/or draw your own on the board.)
Imagine you have an evil dog and a good dog inside you, and every day, they are fighting to determine whether you will do the right thing or the wrong thing.
Which dog will win? The dog that you feed more.
(Under their drawings, have students write what we need to do in order to feed each dog.)
How do we feed the good dog?
Read the Bible, pray, witness to others, stay away from worldly things, and listen to godly music.
How do we feed the bad dog?
Watch and listen to bad things, hang around bad people, and give in to those bad emotions such as anger and envy.
It isn’t enough just to feed the good dog, but you have to starve the bad dog (Colossians 3:8-10 KJV).
It is a battle every single day where we must willingly do the things that will please God and actively avoid the things that feed our flesh or those bad desires (Romans 12:1-2 KJV ).
Paul describes this daily ongoing battle very well in Romans 7:15-25 KJV. Look up this passage and have students take turns reading it or reading it on their own then write down what they think it means. Discuss the meaning of the passage after reading it.
Your testimony as a Christian is important.
When you tell people you are a Christian, be prepared for them to have higher expectations for you – and this isn’t just true for people. God also has higher expectations for people who have become his children (Ephesians 5:8 KJV).
Just like families, how children behave is a reflection of their parents.
This is not always fair – there are some great parents out there who just have unruly children. God is a perfect father with plenty of rebellious children. But, that is just the way many people think. They will judge the parents based on the behavior of the children.
The worst thing that can happen is for a person to refuse getting saved, refuse going to church, and refuse reading the Bible all because of your behavior. They think, if this person is a Christian – and I’m a better person than him/her – then I don’t need God.
If you want people to look at you and know that you are a Christian, you have to be feeding that good nature. Then, you will automatically begin to show the influence of Jesus Christ in your life. His light will reflect through you (Matthew 5:14-16 KJV).
People will notice something different about you, which is exactly what Jesus wanted when he prayed John 17:15 KJV: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil.
Also, when you feed the spirit, you bear the fruit of the spirit.
To end the lesson, have students try to name the fruit of the spirit, then read Galatians 5:22-25 KJV.
If you enjoyed this Bible lesson “Are You Different? Living a Life that Reflects Christ,” be sure to check out other lessons here.