Think First!

Thinking before we act

by Rebecca Parkinson (revised, originally published in 2006)

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To encourage us to make wise decisions and think about the consequences of our actions.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the Bible story of the wise and foolish builders, which is found in Luke 6.47–49. This could be read or retold, and is available at: http://tinyurl.com/bddc7fvm
• Optional: in the ‘Assembly’, Step 1, you may wish to have the dictionary definition of the word ‘wise’ displayed, or have a dictionary ready for a child to read out the definition.

Assembly

1. Ask the children what the word ‘wise’ means.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   After they have tried giving their own definitions, ask a child to read out the dictionary definition. The definition in the Oxford English Dictionary is ‘having or exercising sound judgement or discernment; capable of judging truly concerning what is right or fitting’.
   
   
2. Offer examples to the children of when they might have had experiences that have taught them to be wise, so that they know what to do if they find themselves in the same situation again.
   
   - Younger children may have been lost in a shop. This experience could have taught them always to stay near the adult they are with, or they could have learned exactly what to do if they get lost again.
   
   - Some of the children may have hurt their neck doing a forward roll. This experience could have helped them to understand the importance of tucking their head under in future.
   
   
3. Ask the children if they can think of their own examples of situations in which they have learnt something that has made them ‘wise’, helping them to change an action in the future.
   
   
4. Tell the Bible story of the wise and foolish builders. Explain that the foolish man didn’t stop to consider the consequences of his actions, but zoomed ahead with his plans, giving the house-building project no proper thought. The result was a disaster!
   
   The wise man thought about the best place for the house and the best way to build it. He took his time and considered the consequences of his actions. The result was a house that withstood the battering it got.
   
   
5. Explain that we need to be the sort of people who consider the things that we do. We need to realize that our decisions can have a huge effect on our future. Ask the children if they can think of any examples of things that they might do now that could affect their future lives.
   
   - They could eat too much unhealthy food and be unwell in the future.
   - If they don’t try their best in school, they might end up doing badly, and be unable to do a job that they really want to do.
   - They might be unpleasant to someone in the playground and end up without any friends.
   
   
6. Ask the children for examples of wise behaviour in each of the above cases.
   
   Point out that being wise means learning from past experiences and carefully considering decisions that we make and things that we do now.

Time for reflection

Let’s think about the decisions that we are going to have to make today. For example, we will be deciding whether to try hard in class, whether to play with someone at break-time, whether to be polite and whether to help someone in our home after school.

Let’s remember that we have a choice to make: we can make good or bad decisions.

Prayer
Dear God,
Please help us to be wise.
Help us to realize that there are consequences to everything that we do.
Please help us to make good decisions that will work out best for ourselves and others.
Amen.

Song/music

‘One more step’ (Come and Praise, 47), available at: https://youtu.be/5jhAzbdKq6U (2.53 minutes long)

‘You’re welcome’ from the film Moana, available at: https://youtu.be/79DijItQXMM (2.48 minutes long)