INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE GROUP

Because I value myself as a child of God, I choose to be a person of virtue.

 

How To Be A Person of Virtue

Self-control

God always acts and speaks with care. He does not act foolishly in anger or violence.

I choose to act with self-control.

Definition

Self-control related virtues: Composure, autonomy, determination, restraint, temperate, waiting your turn, willpower, boundaries, self-discipline.

Self-control means: controlling your anger, choosing a small amount in the presence of abundance, waiting your turn to talk.
Artwork Music

See flipchart

Click the picture below:

 

 

Oh Be Careful Little Hands
Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild, SDAH 540
Lord Speak to Me, SDAH 541

Student Life Applications

1. You can show students getting angry when: they don't get their way, they miss an answer on the test, they miss the ball, they don't get the most expensive stuffed toy.
2. Student stays calm when other students are yelling at him.
3. Student with stomach ache while several candy wrappers are lying on the table.
4. Student remaining calm after little brother has torn the assignment.
5. Student remaining calm after little sister has broken a special trinket.
 

Bible, E.G. White


Job 36:10 He openeth also his ear to discipline
Proberbs 16:32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city
1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God


Reinforcing Stories

"You Can't Keep Them Small", "Little Phill-up Tummy", "Benefits of Restraint", "Must and Mustn't", "Dorothy and Bessie Visit Aunt Mary", "Does Your Governor Work?", "The Story the Looking Glass Told", "Aunt Lou's Reformation", "How Tommy Overcame Temptation", "The Wrong End of the String", "The Hard Things First", "A Weedy Garden", "How Tommy Fought", Treasury of Devotional Aids for home and school.

Student Activities

1. Study the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Memorize them. Apply them. You can rule yourself.
2. Establish a self-control team. Decide on one item to control (e.g. go to bed at 9 p.m. each night) and keep the rule for one week. If you miss then you have to do it for another week.
3. Animal statue: Leader stands with back to players, calls out an animal and number steps, (e.g. bunny hop 3 paces). Leader turns to see any other movement. If caught, then player must return to starting line. First one over the finish wins.
4. Protect the Tower: Your self-control can protect your character. Children form a circle, link arms, and face outward. Put a tower of sorts in the middle of the circle. Try to roll a beach ball or kickball through the children's legs to knock down the tower. Let each student have a turn in trying to get through the circle (your self-control).

 

Links to the Curriculum
Biology: Virus spreads disease, uncontrolled tongue spreads pain also.
Music: Dynamic contrasts is an expressive element of music, so self-control is an expressive element of Christian life.
Physics: Velocity is speed with direction. Self-control is direction with speed.
 

Resources
"Understood Betsy" by Dorothy Fisher Canfield
The Children's Hour, by Arthur S. Maxwell, R&H. 1945
Christian Values Every Kid Should Know, by Donna Habenicht
Teaching Your Children Values, by Linda & Richarch Eyre, Simon & Schuster, 1993
Treasury of Devotional Aids for Home and School by Department of Education of General Conference of SDA, 1951

 

Evaluation

Observe the students: Who wait in the lines; who take their turns in games, who raise their hands before speaking.

Primary:
Tell or write two ways that show that God has self-control.
Tell or write about a time when you saw someone show self-control.
Tell or write about when you showed self-control like God would do.
Tell or write about when you saw the hurt and unhappiness when someone was not self-controlled.
How do you think God feels when He sees people who are self-controlled?
How do you feel when you are self-controlled?
Tell two ways that you can show self-control.
What makes you want to be self-controlled?
What is the opposite of self-control? Who makes us act that way?
Finish the sentence: We can be self-controlled when we..........

Middle:
Why does God care if I am self-controlled?
What difference does it make whether I am self-controlled or not?
What effect would it have on my future if I did not choose to be self-controlled?
How would people treat me differently if I did or didn’t choose to be self-controlled?
How would I feel about myself if I did or did not choose to be self-controlled?
Give some reasons why you think it is best to be self-controlled. Why would someone do differently?
What makes choosing to be self-controlled better than the opposite?
List some ways that a person might be self-controlled without anyone noticing?
List 3 situations where a person could be self-controlled in his work, home, or at the shopping mall.
Is it possible for a person to get better at being self-controlled? Explain.
Can you think of someone who seems good at being self-controlled? What makes them better at it?
How could you learn to be better at self-control?
How often do you show self-control? Think of the last three times and tell me.
Do you like to join in when people are being self-controlled? How have you joined in?

High school:
Would you practice self-control if no one was checking on you? Your parents, school, or the law?
What is the alternative to self-control and what do you see as the results of that choice?
Would you recognize it if someone was not fully self-controlled? How?
Would you keep quiet if someone paid you a lot of money not to be self-controlled?
Are you proud to be self-controlled and willing to tell others how you feel?
If someone in a group spoke out against self-control would you speak up to give the other side?
Are you willing to put some of your money toward supporting self-control in your city, class, work?
Can you say that being self-controlled has become a habit? How often are you that way?
What effect do you think self-control will have on your future life?
Do you see your family practicing self-control others? How about your church, city, or nation?
What do you think should be done to promote self-control in your family, friends, church, city, nation?
Does it make much difference if they are self-controlled or not?