FAMILY DEVOTIONAL
Obey God, Deny Self Family Devotional week of 4/14/24
Discipleship is the journey of obedience to God who is our ultimate authority. Transformation can be seen when we decide to set aside earthly, temporary values, possessions and desires for kingdom priorities.
To be a disciple is synonymous with following Jesus as the One who is in authority over us. Progress can be seen as we set aside earthly delights for kingdom priorities.
Have you ever tried to build something like a Lego figure or IKEA bed without following the directions? (if you have time buy a Lego set (or something that requires instructions to build) like a car or character that has 100+/- pieces and try to put it together without the instructions)
What was hard? What was easy? Did anyone get frustrated? Did anyone feel like quitting? Did it get completed?
How is building a Lego and following the directions like life and following the instructions God gave us through Jesus’ teaching and the Bible?
Read these verses from the Message translation, Matt. 16:24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
We need to think, or re-think, about what is important and what is valuable to God. Why would someone trade their soul for earthly things?
Define self-denial.
A great way to practice self-denial is by serving others. What ways are you serving around your home? Serving at church is a great way to put God and others first. What are ways that your family can serve together?
One of the important lessons we can learn is the value of obeying God and denying self.
On the TV game show, The Price is Right, contestants guessed, estimated and had to match a price on a variety of items. Play a guessing game with items you have around the house. Collect items that you have on hand and make a price list so that everyone can fill in the blanks with their guesses. Start with the price/value of: food items (bag of popcorn, deli meat, noodles…), then bigger items like a picture, appliance or furniture (candle, TV, side-table…) and then try adding behaviors/character (picking up your room, washing dishes, saying “Thank you”…)
Who got the closest to the prices of the food items? The furniture? The character/behaviors? What was more valuable? What was easier to guess, the price of food or the value of behavior?
What did you learn about value? Now what are some things God values.
Read 1 Sam 15:22 to obey is better than sacrifice.
Obedience requires listening. Listening is difficult because we are often distracted by what is going on around us, our thoughts or what we are planning to say when it is our turn to talk. Practice active listening. Ask your family members a question and take turns answering. While one person is talking everyone else listens to understand the answer and be ready to repeat what they heard. After the person answering is finished each of the other family members says, “What I heard you say was….” and they repeat what they heard. The questions can be simple to start. (What was your favorite part of the day? Least favorite? What is your favorite holiday and why?) The important part of this activity is to really listen. Then talk about how you can really listen to God.
What are at least 3 ways you can be obedient to God today?
What are at least 3 ways you can deny self this week?