Free Bible lesson for kids · Letters to the Churches
Doers of the Word
James wrote that it is not enough to hear God’s Word. We must do what it says, not be like a man who looks in a mirror and then forgets what he saw.
- Bible passage
- James 1:19–27
- Big idea
- Hearing God’s Word means doing it.
- Memory verse
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22 (KJV)- Ages
- Preschool to preteen (3 to 12), with tips for each age
- Time
- About 45 minutes
- Included, free
- Animated story film, coloring page, class sheet, teacher guide, questions and answers, a game
The story
James wrote a letter to God’s people who were scattered abroad (James 1:1). He said, “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). Angry tempers do not bring about the right things God wants (James 1:20). So we should put away what is dirty and wrong, and humbly receive God’s Word planted in us, which is able to save us (James 1:21).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). Someone who hears but does not obey is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror. He walks away and soon forgets what he looks like (James 1:23–24). But whoever keeps looking into God’s perfect law and does it will be blessed (James 1:25). True faith guards its tongue, helps orphans and widows in trouble, and stays pure from the world’s sin (James 1:26–27).
Read it in the Bible: James 1:19–27 (KJV)
19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. 27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Questions to ask
What should we be quick to do and slow to do?
Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
What is a hearer who does not do like?
A man looking at his face in a glass (mirror) who forgets what he saw.
Name one way to do the word this week.
Help someone in need, tell the truth, obey parents…
What this story teaches
- God wants us to listen more and talk less (James 1:19).
- Angry tempers do not do what God says is right (James 1:20).
- God’s Word is able to save us (James 1:21).
- Hearing God’s Word is not enough; we must obey it (James 1:22).
- God blesses those who keep doing what His Word says (James 1:25).
Jesus and the Wise Builder
Jesus said that whoever hears His words and does them is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.
Matthew 7:24
A 45-minute lesson plan
| 5 min | Welcome and pray. Greet each child by name and pray: Ask God to help us do what His Word says. |
|---|---|
| 10 min | The story. Play the story film: each verse appears on screen in the King James Version while the scene plays. Pause to ask what happens next. |
| 10 min | Talk about it. Ask the three questions below. Then ask: “Hearing God’s Word means doing it.” What does that mean for us? |
| 5 min | Memory verse. Say James 1:22 together, covering one word at a time until the children can say it alone. |
| 10 min | Activity. Younger children color the coloring page while you retell the story; older children do the class sheet (memory-verse fill-in, word search and questions). |
| 5 min | Pray and send home. Pray together and send the sheet home so families can talk about the first question this week. |
- Preschool: keep it short and physical. Act out the story, use a simple prop, and repeat the big idea in one sentence.
- Elementary: let children find the passage in their own Bibles. Ask “who, what, where” questions first, then “why.”
- Preteens: read the verses before and after the passage, and ask how this story fits the whole story of the Bible.
Game time
For kids · game · indoors · about 8 minutes
Mirror, Mirror
You need: Nothing
- Partners face each other. One moves slowly and the other copies exactly, like a mirror.
- Switch who leads.
- Talk: a mirror shows us what to fix. God’s Word shows us how to live.
“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
For youth group · activity · indoors · about 25 minutes
Do It Now
You need: A list of real tasks around the church (stack chairs, tidy the kids’ rooms, write thank-you notes, pick up the parking lot)
- Teams get the task list and twenty minutes.
- Do as many as you can, well, and take a photo of each one done.
- Talk: what is one thing God’s Word told you to do that you haven’t done yet?
James says hearing without doing is like looking in a mirror and forgetting your face. Do the Word.
Pray
Ask God to help us do what His Word says.