Enrichment Activities for Weave Your Word in Me

How to Break the Hatred Cycle —

As human beings we have all experienced hatred of some kind. In fact, there are many levels of hate that kids experience during their school years — either as a victim or as an actual hater.

Read the following eleven descriptions of how young people show hatred and then answer the questions below:

Belittling Jokes
Name Calling
Avoiding or Ignoring
Excluding
Mean Teasing
Unkind Looks
Gossiping
Bullying
Threatening
Shoving
Fist Fighting

Questions

1. Besides fist fighting and shoving, which one do you think is the most destructive?
2. Which one has been used against you?
3. If you’re being honest, which one have you used against another person?
4. Which is the easiest and most natural response — to return hatred for hatred or to return hatred with love?
5. Since our natural reaction is to hate those who hate us or (let’s bring it down to real life) to bug those who bug us, Jesus teaches that the only way to break this cycle of hate is to choose to do the opposite — to return kindness for meanness, to repay hatred with ________.

My Prayer

Dearest Father, Thank you that you don’t return hatred for hatred, but you constantly show love instead — even when we don’t deserve it. Please forgive me for all the times I have participated in the cycle of hate. Help me to change my ways and to genuinely show love to those who bug me, to those I don’t naturally like, and to those who don’t like me. Thank you for setting such a great example. Amen.