Object Lesson | Virus

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Box of tissues

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: Forgiveness means letting go!

Illustration: Come to the front and ask the boys and girls how many of them enjoy being sick. Now we aren’t talking about a little sick, but throwing up, coughing, sneezing, nose constantly running, headache, can’t get out of bed sick. Of course not! When we even start to get sick, we take medicine and vitamins and anything else to make it go away. So lets pretend that these tissues are the beginnings of a cold. Pass out a few of the tissues, or even give one to everyone. Now each of you have a choice. You could hang oonto that cold. You could still eat really bad, take extremely cold showers, not take your medicine or vitamins, and basically feed the cold so you get sicker and sicker. Or you could do the opposite, take care of yourself, and get better so you can go and play outside with friends. Who wants to throw away the sickness? Go ahead throw it!

Explanation: In the same way unforgiveness can be a cold. When someone hurts us, or does something wrong against us it is like a virus. If we dwell on it, and don’t forgive the person, it could end up making us very sick on the inside. It would be like not taking medicine when sick. When we hold in anger, it ends up hurting ourselves more than anything else. But when we forgive, it is like throwing away that tissue! When we decide to forgive we not only show God’s love to others, but we don’t allow someone else’s mistake destroy our joy! Forgiveness means letting it go and not looking back to it!