FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Actions and Attitudes”

**Note to parents: The scripture passage for this week is about lust.  This is an important topic that we as parents need to talk through with our kids.  It’s also a topic that requires a level of maturity to be appropriately understood.  Since this devotion is for families with children of all ages, it will address the broader concept of temptation as a whole.  If you have young children, you will probably use this devotion as is.  If you have teens or pre-teens, I urge you to prayerfully consider if your child is ready for you to talk with them about sexual lust specifically. (Even if you don’t feel ready, your child may be!  Don’t worry—the Holy Spirit’s there, too.) 

Supplies: Bible

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Is there anything that, if it weren’t illegal, you would do?  Or maybe a rule at home that you’d love to see removed from the list?  Would you drive 60 mph in your neighborhood?  Would you drop out of school this very second?  Would you move your little brother or sister into the house next door…or maybe the state next door? Would you choose to eat your dessert first and your vegetables not at all?  Go around your family and share with each other what you might do if the rules weren’t in the way.  (Don’t forget to be kind.)

It seems a little silly to talk about doing things we know we’re never gonna get to do.  But have you ever found yourself thinking about it a little?  Have you found yourself frustrated because you have to drive 25 mph (which probably means 33 mph) to get from your house to Walmart?  Maybe you spent a little time daydreaming about the ability to zoom out of the driveway…  Or, particularly around Christmas time, you find yourself wishing Buddy the Elf was right and the four major food groups really were candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup? 

Is that a problem, thinking about doing things that we’re not supposed to?  Is it ok to dream, to wonder, to imagine what life would be like if the rules were different?  After all, it’s just your imagination, right?

READ

Jesus speaks to that exact issue in our passage today.  Read Matthew 5:27-30 together.

THINK

Jesus is continuing His tour through the commandments.  Last week He addressed murder and anger; this week, it’s adultery.  You know that a husband and wife share a very special love for each other as a married couple.  It’s different than the love they have for their children, their parents or their friends.  It’s married love.  Adultery is when a married adult starts sharing that love with someone else, someone they’re NOT married to.  Can we agree with God and the Commandment—this is not good!  

Jesus takes it a step deeper, though.  He says that it’s not enough to not do it; we shouldn’t even think about doing it.  It’s not enough to keep our actions in check.  We have to be equally concerned about what we’re thinking and feeling.  Jesus knows that if we let our heart and our mind play around with an idea—even if that idea is wrong—if we let our heart and mind play with it, pretty soon it may not seem so bad.  Plus, we’re building bad attitudes into our hearts.

Let’s use our example from above: speed limits are put in place to protect people.  If you actually drove 60 mph in a neighborhood, you’d run a huge risk of hitting a child who ran into the road to get a football or a dog chasing a cat.  Right?  But if we get grumpy because it takes so long to get out of our subdivision, or if we start dreaming about putting the pedal to the metal, what we’re really telling ourselves is that we are so important, better nothin’ get in our way!

Or how about this: I had many friends who fantasized about life as an only child.  They were always picturing what it would be like to NOT have a brother or sister.  Unfortunately, they were also drilling in a bitter feeling in their heart for their own family member.  Jesus knew that keeping our actions in check wasn’t enough for His disciples.  If we want to be all that God has planned for us, we have to be just as careful, maybe even more careful about keeping our heart, our attitudes in check. 

APPLY

Some of us need to work on our actions.  Let’s call a spade a spade—that’s just how it is.  Some of us are still giving in to temptation and taking that step to do something sinful, something we know we’re not supposed to do.  If that’s you, I’d suggest spending some time in confession and then asking for help to resist those urges when they come barreling by.  Many of us, however, are rocking the action part.  We can got several days, maybe even weeks without giving in to tempting actions.  Unfortunately, we’re still sinning because our hearts and minds are filled with thoughts of doing it anyway.  If you’re in that group, I’d suggest confessing that, too.  Then pick one thing in particular you want to keep in check.  Share that with your family so they can help you be successful. 

PRAY

Jesus, my Savior, my Teacher, my Lord.  Tonight I want to do better than just “act” like a Christian.  I want to BE a Christian.  I want my heart to be filled with Your love and peace.  Help me put my attitudes in check so that all of me is about all of You.  In Your Holy 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.