Family Devotions

If you are looking for an easy, fun family devotion, look no further. What follows below is a great fun family devotion, complete with bible verses, questions, game, and visual object lesson that will help you lead your family in spiritual devotions in a way that does not feel forced.

Topic–

Temptation: Resist the devil

Play charades together. Act out something (without talking) and see who can guess correctly. If the actor talks (or makes noises) during their acting time, their turn is over and they lose a point. Keep track of points to see who is the best actor and the best guesser. After everyone gets a few chances to play ask everyone if it was easy to not talk. Were they tempted to say something when it was their turn to act? We are easily and often tempted. Temptation is not wrong, it is when we act on that temptation that it is wrong.

Read Matthew 4:1-11 together.
This is the story about the devil tempting Jesus. Even though the devil was quoting the Bible, he was twisting the words and trying to trick Jesus. Jesus did not give in, and he quoted Bible verses back to the devil (Psalm 119:11). Finally, because Jesus was resisting the temptation, the devil left (James 4:7).

The devil would love for us to not resist him when he is tempting us. The Bible says that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us! What does flee mean? Flee means to run away. The devil will leave you alone when you resist.

Take a few minutes to answer and discuss the following questions.

What is temptation?
What are some ways you are tempted?
Is being tempted wrong? (remember, Jesus was tempted, and Jesus did no wrong)
What are some ways you can avoid giving into temptation?

Object Lesson

Get a pie pan and fill it with water. The pie pan represents us. Explain to your family that sin is what results when we don’t resist temptation. Ask if anyone can think of a time that they didn’t resist temptation. If no one can think of any, tell them about a time you gave into temptation.

Sprinkle some pepper into the water. Talk about what happens. (The pepper makes the water not clear anymore. The pepper floats around, etc.) Often when we don’t resist temptation, the next time we are tempted, it is harder to resist. (sprinkle in some more pepper). There may come a point that we aren’t able to resist at all.

Get a little drop of dish soap on your finger. Let everyone know that it is not the end of the world if we have sin in our life. God sent Jesus to earth to die, so we can be forgiven. All we have to do is ask God to forgive us, and He will! Forgiveness means He removes the sin from our lives. Ask if anyone is able to get the pepper out of the water. Getting rid of sin is not something we are able to do. It is something that God can do though.
(Touch the center of the water and watch what happens!)

The pepper will jump to the sides of the pie plate. The pepper is just like the devil. When we resist him, he will flee!

Do you think your family would benefit from this? Download and print it!

Would the families in your ministry enjoy these activities? Share this post with them, or download, print, and hand it to them!

What do you think? What is your approach to family devotions? Leave a comment and let me know!

Are you looking for more great family devotion resources? Check out an Amazon #1 best selling children’s ministry book: Got Fruit: a guide to family devotions based on the fruit of the spirit.

Your child’s relationship with God must extend beyond Sunday morning. Parents have to take a leading role in the discipleship of their kids. Based on the Fruit of the Spirit, Got Fruit? is an effective tool to help parents disciple their children. If you are looking for help with your family devotion time, Got Fruit? is for you! Through this devotional you will be guided through discussions that build on each of the 9 fruits of the spirit. Each of the 9 devotionals include bible passages that highlight the highlighted fruit as well as a few related thoughts. Also included is a series of discussion questions that will help you guide your children in a conversation to bring truth and understanding. This short devotional is a perfect tool to guide you as you disciple your children into a deeper relationship and understanding with God.