LRH: Good Sportsmanship Lesson Plan - Lesson 9

Lesson 9: Self-Control
Devotional Text:

James 3:2-8
2 All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.  3 By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions.  4 It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction.  5 Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things.  It takes only a spark to start a forest fire!   6 The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself.  7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed.  8 But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison. (CEV)

Memory Verse::

2 Timothy 1:7b The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. (CEV)

What does it mean to be in control?

• When you are using a controller for a video game, you make the player move by the actions that you take.
• When you control a car, you use a small steering wheel to control a large car, or like in our devotional text, a ship’s captain uses a small rudder to control a large ship.

How can we be “self-controlled”?

• As we learn the other aspects of good sportsmanship, like patience, fairness, honesty, and being humble, it is easier to be self-controlled, but we can’t do it all by ourselves!
• That’s why God gave us the Holy Spirit.  He’s kind of like the cricket in Pinocchio, our conscience!  He’s always there, right by our side, even inside!  He reminds us to do the right thing, follow the rules, hold our temper and to be compassionate.  God’s word tells us that God has given us a spirit (a way to live our lives) of Power, Love and Self-Control.  We have help!

Next Lesson: Compassion & Mercy (final lesson)
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