Note to parent or teacher: Here is a 20- to 30-minute lesson plan on the following lesson objective: “Be able to identify when one has done something wrong, and describe how to seek forgiveness for wrongdoing.” (Character Building: Social Skills: Forgiveness-1c)

Look up definitions of “apologize” and “repent,” and explain how these two actions complement each other; that to apologize is to say one is sorry for wrongdoing, and to repent is to make an effort to change and not repeat the wrongdoing.

Read page 6 of “The Lord’s Prayer” and page 4 of “Be Kind” for examples of apologizing.

Read pages 9–11 of “Tiny Bible Treasures: Zacchaeus Meets Jesus” about how Zacchaeus repents of his past wrongdoings (cheating people).

Read Matthew 3:8: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God” (NLT).

Discuss steps one can take when seeking to be forgiven; for example, recognizing what you have done wrong, asking for forgiveness, doing something to manifest that repentance, and when possible, doing something to make up for the wrongdoing.

Read an example of the last discussion point in “Puppendorf: Scary Shumba.” Nosey repents of his wrongdoing and explains how he had spread untruths about Shumba, and then apologizes to all concerned, and also later develops a friendship with Shumba.

Read “Yuichi’s Garden.” In this story, after his father explains what he had done wrong, Yuichi shows true repentance by taking care of his garden, and not neglecting his duties the next time his friend asks him to play when he’s meant to be caring for the garden.

Follow up the lessons on apologizing and repenting by reading some of the following stories over the next few days:

• “Piles of Presents for Jesus.” Ray and Amelie both gave Jesus presents of things He enjoyed by apologizing to each other and forgiving each other.
• “Simple Courtesy.” An example in this story of not truly apologizing and repenting is when Carol and Leora told Joe they were sorry for bumping into him. However, they didn’t stop running and they didn’t help him pick up the papers they caused him to drop.
• “Billy and the Broken Promise.” Billy apologizes to his friend Alex for letting him down. And Alex quickly forgives his friend and welcomes him back.
• “How Emma Met Suzy.” Emma tells Jesus she’s sorry about how she hasn’t taken good care of Joe’s fish tank, and asks Him to show her what to do to help make things right. Emma then does what Jesus shows her to do.
• “The Truth of the Purple Walls.” It wasn’t wrong that the three didn’t have the paint mixed correctly when they painted the first room. What was wrong was that they tried to cover up their mistake with a lie. When the problem was exposed, they finally apologized to the king. The king asks them to show their repentance by telling the guest, Lord Tray, about what they had done, and then painting another room for him to stay in, even though they had to do this on their day off.

Additional material:

• “Be the Artist: Zacchaeus Meets Jesus:” By tracing some of the figures on pages 2 and 3, the children can draw a picture of Zacchaeus up in the tree. To add Jesus talking to Zacchaeus, the figures to trace are on page 1.