Kids Learn Bible Lessons on Respect via Sports
Sports Teach Christian Lessons Love, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness
Sep 14, 2009
Participating in sports activities helps children learn to live Biblically, following the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
The nine fruits of the spirit include love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, patience, joy, and peace. Sports can teach children about the first four - love, kindness, goodness, and gentleness - by modeling teamwork.
Sports Activities Teach Children Respect Through Teamwork
Many sports activities teach teamwork and respect, helping to foster the following four fruits of the Spirit:
- Love
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Gentleness
On a sports team, members need to care about teammates and friends, considering their feelings and trusting teammates and coaches. Teamwork helps children learn to respect themselves and others, and it teaches them to be kind to others and to do a good job at life tasks. In some sports activities, such as dance, children learn gentleness and grace, which are positive life lessons.
Learning Respect and Teamwork Through Sports Lessons Guides Children Later in Life
Through sports activities, young people learn to work together, which teaches them to rely on others yet also to help others in return. Sports activities teach kids that each person is responsible for certain parts and that they need to trust each other to do their assigned tasks (like trusting the goalie in a hockey game to protect the goal while trusting offensive players to make goals). As the Bible says, the Body of Christ contains many parts, all equally necessary and valuable, each performing different tasks. The work cannot be completed without everyone working together.
This life lesson in teamwork helps when the child grows up and enters the workforce, where he or she will work with others on group projects or will lead others, trusting employees to finish their work. Understanding that each person is entrusted a different part will help kids avoid power struggles as adults.
Sports Teach Children to Live By the Spirit, With Love, Kindness, Goodness, and Gentleness
These four fruits of the Spirit - love, kindness, goodness, and gentleness - help children develop empathy for others and learn the lesson that life is not always about them. Lessons about teamwork help children learn to put others first, leading them to respect both themselves and others. These are valuable life lessons, and key Christian values, to learn. One way children learn these Christian lessons is through sports activities.
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