Bankrupt Without Love Game Show

Here’s a great way to teach 1 Corinthians 13:3. The Message Bible reads: “If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”

In this game show, contestants will try to gather prizes and pick up the “love” slip in three tries. Set up 6 gift bags (we used bottle-sized bags from the dollar store). In 5 of the bags, place small prizes, such as toys, candy, or even money. In one of the bags, place a slip of paper that says love (depending on how many times you are going to play, you may want to laminate it). If the contestant finds “love,” he/she gets to keep the prizes for two other bag choices. If the contestant doesn’t get “love,” he/she doesn’t get the prizes (you may want to have a small consolation prize just for playing).

Here’s how to format the game: the contestant points to a bag. Open the bag and reveal the prize inside, setting it to the side or in front of the bags. If the contestant finds the love slip, hand it to the player. Then, the player picks another bag. The contestant gets to open three bags. At the end, the contestant can trade the love slip for the other two prizes he/she has revealed (or if the contestant can't find "love," they have lost and the game is over). While running the game show, make sure to say, “Even though you’ve found lots of great prizes, just as the scripture tells us, if you don’t have love it doesn’t matter! Love is what brings all the other good things in our lives together.”

After a contestant plays, replace all 6 of the bags secretly (you may want to have a volunteer do this for you), and give another contestant a chance. If you have multiple contestants fail in a row, try adding another love slip into the bags to make the game a bit easier.

Here's our version of the love slips, you can right-click to download them to use.