By Hope Ellison
Sixth grade. Forgiveness. I felt intimidated. The lesson we had prepared to teach these kids was way below their level. Many of them had been held back several times and were not much younger than I was. It seemed like everything—the skits, the object lessons, the illustrations—were all too childish for them. 
It was like they had built a wall in their hearts, and were determined not to learn because they had been hurt before.
As my teaching partners and I taught, I could tell they understood the concept of what forgiveness was, but that they were choosing not to respond. Then God gave me a thought– these sixth graders desperately want to be treated as adults and would rather have a relational teacher than one who just preaches at them. Right there the Lord gave me an insight on how to be a relational teacher and connect with them on their level.
Just after my teaching partner finished giving the class the challenge to quickly forgive someone who has hurt them and to do something nice for them, I jumped in with what the Lord had told me to say. I told the class that next week, when we ask them if they had shown forgiveness, they could ask me if I had forgiven someone who has hurt me and done something nice for them. I saw each one of those sixth graders
sit up a little straighter in their seats and turn wide-eyed expressions toward me. I told them I knew from personal experience that it’s hard to show forgiveness, and that a lot of times other people have hurt me as well. From their expressions I could tell that they were surprised; here I was the teacher, and I had just asked them to hold me accountable to show forgiveness to someone in my own life.
I knew I had just connected with them on a personal level, and thanked God for giving me the words to say that would reach them. I’m so excited now to continue incorporating more relational teaching in this sixth grade class in the weeks ahead, instead of feeling intimidated or incapable of teaching them.
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