Object Lesson on Pride

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

You will need a simple house or barn made out of construction paper.

When you begin your lesson, hold the house up and ask them what it is. Set it down where they can see it and describe how nice it looks, how it is strong and not falling apart. Tell them that today you are going to talk about pride and how destructive it is.

Destruction is a big word so I'm going to illustrate it for you.Lets pretend this house is on a farm somewhere and one day a tornado comes along and with it's powerful winds destroys it! Pick the house up and smash it with your hands. Put it down for them to see. Now, that is destruction and that is what the Bible says pride will do to you.

Pride is a problem that all of us have, it is part of being a sinful human being. Pride causes you to want your own way, to put yourself first, to be selfish and unkind to others. How do you know if you are prideful? Well, do you listen when someone tells you what to do? Do you like to boast about the things you have done? Those are both things we do when we are being prideful.

Now, the reason God warns us not to be proud is because He knows just how dangerous it is to be that way. You see, pride is actually going against God in our heart. When we are proud we are saying to God " I want to do what I want, I don't want to obey You or listen to You." That is bad news kids, you can only get in a mess when you don't follow God.

The Bible tells us that we as humans are in serious trouble because we have broken God's laws and refused to listen to Him. Each of us deserves to be punished for sinning against God. "But," you say, " I haven't disobeyed God." Are you sure about that? Have you ever lied? Have you ever taken a cookie when mom said no, or taken a quarter from the counter? Have you ever disobeyed something your parents said to do? If you have, you have broken laws God has about lying, stealing, and disobeying parents. Now we are in big trouble and what will we do?

Well, we know that we can't save ourselves. Only Jesus' blood can wash away your sin and my sin and make us clean. God loves you and He has made a way through Christ for you to be cleansed of your sins. Isn't that just an amazing gift?

Now we know that we have sinned against God and the only way to have those sins washed away is through Jesus Christ. But wait. We have a second problem. If we are prideful we will think to ourselves, " oh I'm not a very bad person. I mean, everyone lies or steals sometime. I guess I'm good enough on my own. I don't need to be sorry for what I did!." You see, pride is very sneaky. It tells you that you really aren't so bad and you can do it on your own without God. Pride can keep you from trusting in Christ. It can keep you from repenting for your sin and believing that only Jesus Christ can make you right with God again.

Do you see why pride is so destructive? It will not only make you unhappy and unkind on earth, but it will keep you from believing in Christ. This is why God warns us against it in this verse. What should we do when we feel prideful? We should see it for how dangerous and sinful it is, and repent of it - that means to feel sorry for it and turn away from it. Then we can know that through God's love and grace, Jesus can pay for our sins and make us clean again.