Family Devotion Idea: Excess Baggage

*About twice a month, we try to post the outline of a family devotion that you and your kids can do together. Carve out some time with your kids for a fun and creative discussion this week!

Teaching Goal:
Satan wants to keep us from living a godly life.

Scripture:

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Colossians 3:8 “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

I Peter 2:1 “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

Materials:

Large coat

Adult-size pair of pants

Adult-size shoes

Lesson and Discussion:

*Words that are written in bold are when you, the parent, are speaking. Feel free to use your own words.

NOTE: This lesson is great to do with another family or two. Invite another family to join you for family time this week. Not only will your friends enjoy having Family Time, but they may catch a vision for having their own regular Family Times too.

Make a list of “baggage,” things that hinder us from living a godly life. Greed, taking something that is not yours, envy, jealousy, hatred, lying, covering up, being deceitful, anxiety, worry, bad language, gossip, unwillingness to forgive.

ACTIVITY:

We call this the excess baggage race. After discussing the list you created, have a timed race. Have children run in regular clothes first. Then surprise them by bringing out baggy clothes. One at a time, each child will put on the big clothes and race through an obstacle course (use chairs, boxes, etc. as the obstacles). Time them in both races, with normal clothes and excess baggage. Allow them to run an additional race in the baggy clothes for fun and then reinforce the principles of this lesson.

Did you run faster wearing the big clothes or your own? My own. What was it like to try to race while wearing the baggy clothes? It was hard, it slowed me down, tripped me. The baggy clothes represent “baggage,” the list we just made, things that keep us from doing what God has asked of us.

Read the scriptures listed on page 90 and ask the children to listen for descriptions of things that hinder us.

If you like this devotion idea, there are hundreds more available from Family Time Training. See the link on the left side of this page for more information.