What do you spy?
During a family night activity or while riding in your vehicle, play a game of “I spy.” After everyone has had a chance to “spy,” talk to your child about the spies Joshua sent into Jericho and how Rahab protected them when she hid them from the king’s men.
Rahab acted in faith. She believed God was going to give her city over to the Israelites. Because of her faith, she chose to hide the Israelite spies, and in return, they protected her and her family from harm when Jericho was defeated. Rahab’s faith delivered her from harm.
Remind your child that when we believe in God, we can show our faith in Him by our actions.
Goodbye, Fear. Hello, Faith.
Do you think you would have felt afraid if you were Rahab? What can you do when you feel afraid? You can REPLACE your feelings of fear with true statements about God to build your faith.
Teach your kids the “replace it” trick. Instead of just saying, “Don’t think about it, Don’t be afraid,” REPLACE those fearful thoughts with faith-filled thoughts. We can find faith-filled thoughts in the Bible (Romans 10:17).
Ask each family member to think of one situation where one might feel afraid and write it on a slip of paper. Put the slips in a bag and take turns drawing out a slip. Then think of true statements about God (God is with me; God will deliver me; God loves me; God is for me; God wants to help me; God has all power; etc.) or find an actual Bible verse that would build trust in God in that situation.
Take it a step further and write the faith statements on slips of paper; keep them in a jar so they can be pulled out and read when needed.
*A good website to help you find verses is http://www.biblegateway.com. You can type in a word, and it will bring up all the verses with that word in it.
DO What’s Right
In order to help children understand the idea of doing the right thing and putting our faith into action, tell your children to do what you say. The hard part will be when you say one thing, but DO another. (For example: Tell them to pat their head, but you will pat your belly. Tell them to kick their leg, but you will move your arm. Tell them to turn around, but you will touch your toes. Tell them to march, but you will run in place.)
Afterward, ask:
Was it confusing when I said one thing, but did another? (YES)
Did you pay more attention to what I said or what I did? (Probably what you did)
Our actions should match your words. If you SAY you are a Christian, you should DO things that a Christian would DO. Rahab is a great example of acting out her faith, and she probably wasn’t a Christian yet.
What are some ways we can show our faith in God through our actions? (Loving others; being kind; working diligently; giving; worshipping; etc.) Through our faith in God, we have deliverance from sin and a relationship with Christ. Let’s try to act out our faith by doing the right thing this week!