Teach them to Your Children
Elementary classroom devotion
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:5-7, ESV
What does it mean to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might? Does it mean you love God a whole bunch? Does it mean you love Him all the time? Does it mean you love God more than you love anything else?
Sometimes at school we rank things we like and don’t like. A certain hot lunch might be our favorite while another one is a guarantee you will bring a cold lunch. Everyone has a favorite book, a favorite movie, or a favorite recess game – even if they might change from week to week. These verses are not talking about measuring how much we love God. They are reminding us that we should love God in a special way.
We are to love God in everything we do, or say, or think. That does not sound like an easy thing to do! I know my sin gets in the way of my loving God and there are some days when I love a food, or a game, or a friend so much I forget about how much God loves me.
The Bible verse is reminding God’s people that children need to be taught how to love God in everything they do. Your parents show you how to love God when they teach you Bible stories, when they correct you when you sin, and when they bring you to church and school to hear about God.
God gave your parents other helpers to teach you. You have pastors, childcare workers, and teachers to show you how to love God with your heart, soul and might. This is an important job!
You can help to teach each other. When you help a friend, when you protect someone being hurt, when you tell someone about how God loves them, God is helping you to teach this important lesson. God is giving you the chance to practice being a teacher.
God loves you, He teaches you, and He sends people into your life to teach you. God wants you to love Him and He makes it possible for you to learn.
Sometime today, give your teacher a hug, or write your teacher a note. Thank God for bringing this person into your life. Maybe you will be a teacher or a pastor someday.
Discussion:
- How does your teacher share God’s love with you?
- How do you teach others about God?
Prayer:
Dear God, we thank you for sending parents, teachers, and pastors to show us how to love you. Help us to share your love with others, today and always. Amen.
KM
