This passage is so quoted and used, it’s a key part of understanding the “love” theme that echoes through scripture. It is, however, rather abstract, and this retelling used the instance of Paul writing it to frame the passage into a story.

This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage : 1 Corinthians 13

Character resources for: Love is. 1 Corinthians 13

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Paul was in the midst of writing to all the people in Corinth about the gifts God could send them through his Holy Spirit when he suddenly stopped and threw his hands in the air. In all his talk about the great gifts and the way they all worked together, he’d forgotten the most important things of all… Love!

It didn’t matter if you had every gift God could give; if you didn’t have love, then they were nothing, nadda, zip, diddlysquat, useless! Love was the thing that tied everything together.

But what kind of love. After all, there are many kinds. We may love chocolate or football, but we love our parents with a different kind of love. And God loves us with a love even greater than that. So, Paul tried to do the impossible: he tried to write out exactly what this “love” was.

Love is patient and kind.
It does not envy, boast or be rude.
Love thinks first of others and keeps no record of wrongs.
Love finds no joy in brokenness but rejoices in the truth.
It holds all things, believes all things, hopes all things, suffers all things.
Love never, ever ends.

Paul sat back and read the long list of things about love. It was something he was still learning about. It was something too big for him to ever know everything about. It was like he could only see part of the picture.

He described it as looking at a reflection in a dull mirror. He knew it was God’s love, and he knew a lot about it, but the image was still blurry. His greatest wish was that one day he would see God’s love face to face, to discover what he already knew in part, but then to know fully.

Paul picked up his pen one last time for the day. He would stop after this and continue the letter tomorrow, but this last sentence needed adding:

Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—
but the greatest of these is love.

The body craft

This is a super simple craft idea, but it takes a little concentration to pull off. Like so many things about the Body of Christ, the best picture is only revealed when every part is precisely where it should be.

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body of believers split pin man

This is probably the most traditional of crafts for making a moving body – using split pins!

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These are the Character resources provided for: The Body (1 Corinthians 12).

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

For each passage, there is a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page. All other graphics are extra’s!

Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).

These images are NOT copyright free.

These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only.
Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decor, big screen presentations, flannelgraphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group.
You may not use them in products you are going to sell – both printed and digital, or to upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos.
Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.

It’s easy to get lost in feeling you aren’t an important part of a congregation, that’s even more true for kids who often don’t have numerous hands-on skills they can offer. Paul’s passage on the body of believers is a great way of reminding everyone that not all jobs are glamorous and that each part, whether it’s a leading or supporting or a needing support role, is an essential part.

This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage :1 Corinthians 12

Biblical retelling of The Body of Believers, 1 Corinthians 12, for youngsters.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Paul stared at the passage of writing. The letter to the Corinthians was getting long, but it was all important stuff they needed to hear. He had just finished the bit about how God gives us different gifts, and now he had to find a way of explaining how those gifts worked together.

Paul looked around for something he could use as a symbol. The curtains needed the window. The lamp needed the oil. The plants needed the rain and sun and soil… nothing was quite working. He tried again. His pen needed ink and a hand to hold it and an arm to move it and eyes to see… wait this could work! He put the pen down and looked at his reflection in the basin. Then, he rushed to the table to start writing…

The body has many parts, but it’s still one body, just like the Church has many members but is still one church.

Imagine if a foot said it didn’t belong to the body because it wasn’t a hand! Doesn’t that sound silly? How would we walk without feet?

Imagine if an ear said it wasn’t part of the body because it wasn’t an eye! How would we hear?
If the whole body was nothing but ears, how would we smell? If the whole body was eyes, how would we hear? The body needs many different parts.

God has arranged the body so that we can all work together. The eyes can’t say they don’t need the ears. The hands can’t say to the feet that they don’t need them. Our churches are not places for being exclusive and only gathering people who are the same, but inclusive where we love the differences that others bring. We need each other to be the whole body.

When we work together, it changes how we treat each other too. If one person suffers, we all suffer. It’s the same when we get hurt. If you cut your foot, then the body is hurt even if your arm is fine. If you win an award for your drawing, your whole body is honoured and rejoices, not just your hands.

God has put the body together so that there would be no division in the body and that the members would all value each other. We all have different roles to play. Some roles are more important than others, but that doesn’t mean that the smaller roles aren’t important too. Without them, the body, as God designed it to be, would be incomplete.

The body of believers is a great lesson in including all, valuing all, accepting all, and working together to build a community that reflects God’s heart. These lessons all tie into the passage found in 1 Corinthians 12 in slightly different ways, allowing kids to move and experience the power of Paul’s words.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Hindered movement

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All Ages

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Small group

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Requires setup time

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Noisy game

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Space needed

Get the youngsters to complete a task while hindered. Tie their leg to a partner’s then walk across the room. Tie their arms together then get them to open a packet, have them tie a shoe blindfolded. Write their name in flour using their nose.
Link: When one part of our body is hindered, it has an effect on the rest.

Building a church

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All Ages

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Any size group

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Requires setup time

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Quiet game

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Can be seated

Give the children a few wooden shapes used for building patterns. Ask them to make a person from just the shapes they have. Talk about how limiting it is to work with so few shapes. Now ask the children to put all their shapes together and repeat, discuss how much easier it was with more shapes.
Link: The church grows with diversity.

Musical identification

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Ages 7+

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Small group

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Requires setup time

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Noisy game

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Can be seated

Play a piece of music for the children. Get them to identify the instruments used. If you can source real instruments for props or use photo’s.
Link: Talk about how the combination of instruments makes the piece sound good.

Clay men

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All Ages

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Small group

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Requires setup time

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Quiet game

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Can be seated

Take some clay and shape it into a humanoid shape. Pass the man around, getting each child to break off a small piece. As each child takes a piece, get them to tell you what the man couldn’t do now that he’s missing the piece they took.
Link: We suffer when one part is missing.

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