The goal of this “complimenting God” exercise is to help your children practice honouring God when they are given a compliment. Here are some example responses you can practice over dinner or while travelling in a vehicle. Also take time to read your choice of the Bible verses listed below and review the discussion questions.

• “Susie, you are a great soccer player.”
  “Thank you. God gave me a talent for playing the game.”
• “Jeff, you sure are a bright boy.”
  “Thanks. I give God the honour. He is the one who made me.”
• “What a great runner you are, Jen!”
  “Thank you. God gave me quick feet.”
• “You swim so well, Tyler!”
  “Thank you. God made me kind of like a fish.”
• “Andrew, what an amazing drawing you have done!”
  “Thank you. God gave me the gift of being creative. I’m glad He made me this way.”
• “You are such a pretty girl, Isabelle!”
  “Thank you. God is the one who made me this way.”
  Or, “Thank you. I like to think of myself as one of God’s many neat creations.”
• “You play the piano so well, James!”
  “I practice a lot, but it is God who gave me a natural talent for music.”

Questions for discussion

• What gifts and talents do you have that others compliment you on?
• Who made you and gives you talents and abilities?
• Who placed you in the position of honour over the animals on the earth?
• If you are going to boast, what should you boast about? (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Key concepts

When we forget who God is and who we are, it is easy to become proud. God made us and deserves thanks and praise for all that we are and all that we have (Isaiah 66:2). He is the Creator of the whole earth, and all that is in it, including us. God is the one who placed people in the position of honour over the animals on the earth (Psalm 8:6).

Any honour we receive from others should be reflected back to God. He made us! When someone compliments us, pride will tempt us to say or think, “Yeah, I’m great!” A humble person, however, will remember that God deserves the honour for making him/her as He did.

Relevant Scripture

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

Psalm 8:3-9 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Isaiah 66:1-2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me? Where will My resting place be? Has not My hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. ‘This is the one who I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My Word.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.”