FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Fight for Your Faith”

Supplies: Bible; paper and pen

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Have you ever worked really hard to do something that you really wanted to preserve, to keep just the way you did it?  I knew this family when I was a kid, and the mom was a neat freak.  She didn’t just tidy—she did spring cleaning almost daily.  While the kids were at school, she dusted every room, scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen, and vacuumed the whole house.  Every. Day.  And because a clean house was so important to her, when the kids got home from school, they weren’t allowed to go to their rooms.  They could play downstairs or do homework in the kitchen, but that was it until bedtime.  She didn’t want them to mess up the clean.  It was so important, she was willing to fight for those dust-free dressers and clutter-free floors.  Woe to any person who put a footprint on those fresh vacuum tracks!

Take turns sharing something your worked hard for that you wanted to keep.  Maybe you built a really cool tower with blocks or Legos and didn’t want to tear it down.  Maybe you drew an amazing picture on a chalkboard and didn’t want anyone to erase it.  Maybe you spent all day cleaning your room until it was spotless and didn’t want it to get messed up again.  Ok, maybe not that last one, but something, right? What made it so important to you?  What did you do or what were you willing to do to preserve it?

READ

Read Jude 1-16 together.  Paraphrase for younger children. 

THINK AGAIN

Jude wrote this great letter to all believers.  It’s not just to the church-goers of his time—it’s to anyone who has started a relationship with Jesus.  Jude warns us about a pitfall that many followers of Jesus stumble into.  He knows how great it is to start a saving relationship with Jesus, to have our sins wiped clean and be given a new heart.  We feel incredible, full of the power of the Holy Spirit.  Often we don’t recognize the darkness that other people are bringing back into our world.  Our friends begin to tease us because of our new faith.  The notice we’re acting differently—being nicer, not gossiping, helping people—and they tell us to lighten up and chillax.  Or worse, they start calling us names.  You turn to a friend who goes to a different church, and they tell you that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you believe in God.  They twist the Word around and suddenly you’re not sure what’s right and what’s not.

When that starts to happen, Jude says we need to FIGHT FOR OUR FAITH.  We have to be willing to take a stand and defend what we believe, what we know to be true.  Just like the examples you shared earlier, we have to value the purity of our faith, of our relationship with Jesus so much that we’re willing to rock some boats to keep it strong.  

APPLY

What are ways your can fight for your faith?  What are some things you can do to keep your relationship with God strong when other people are trying to mess it up or tear it down?  Share some ideas with each other.  Write them down.  Put them some place where you can all read them again.  This is one of those things that comes up again and again, and it’s good to have a game plan.  

My guess is some of you have already had your boats rocked a little.  Someone has walked on your clean carpets a little and you’re maybe wondering what’s what.  That’s ok.  Doubt and questions are normal at times.  If you have some questions about God or about faith, take some time to talk about them now.  What confuses you?  Is there anything about Jesus that just doesn’t make sense? Whatever’s on your mind!  Mom and Dad, if you’re not sure about some of these answers, you can always contact our Children’s Pastor Karin Orwig or our Youth Pastor Scott Perschall (or even Pastor Todd).  In fact, any of our pastoral team would be delighted to answer any questions you may have.  If that’s what it takes, do it!  Fight for your faith and for the faith of your kids!

PRAY

Jesus, You did an amazing thing.  You died on the cross so I could have a relationship with God the Father, so that I could know forgiveness and be saved.  That is so important, Jesus, and I’m willing to fight for that truth in my life.  Give me the courage I will need to hold on to my faith in the middle of darkness and difficulties.  In Your Name we pray, Amen.

REPLY

Did you and your family enjoy this devotional blog?  We'd love to know about it!  Our hope is to continue providing this weekly opportunity for families to do a devotion together.  If your family did this devotion, please shoot us an email, text or just post a comment to this blog.