Elementary // Righteousness Week 4
Memory Verse:
“May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation - the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ - for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” Philippians 1:11 (NLT)
Definition
Righteousness: Being declared right in God’s sight and living in a way that honors Him
Teaching Truth
God’s Word teaches us how to live righteously
Questions to Ask Your Child
Read Matthew 5:1-12. Where was Jesus and what was He doing? (He was on a mountain teaching His disciples and the people with them)
Jesus started teaching by talking about people who live in a right way. How did Jesus describe their righteous character? (Examples: people who know they need God, the humble, those who want righteousness/justice, people who show mercy and work for peace, those who do right but are persecuted)
How does God respond to them? (He blesses them.)
Look at verses 11-12. Does this mean everything in their lives will go perfectly? (No, but even when things are hard, they can be happy and trust God for today, knowing that they will one day get to be with Him in heaven!)
Activity
Input a destination into your GPS sometime this week but begin to do the opposite of what it says until your child notices and asks why you’re not following the directions. Ask them if they think you’ve made your drive better or worse, longer or shorter. Use this as an illustration to help your child understand that God’s Word is like a GPS for life. It doesn’t always give us step-by-step directions for every specific thing we encounter, but it does give us wisdom and teach us how to respond and pray regardless of our situation. Help them see that God teaches us the way to live in a way that honors Him, but also gives us the choice to follow Him or not – the same way the GPS told you where to go, but you could choose to follow it or not. Remind them that if they are a follower of Christ who has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf, that God will never leave them. In the same way the GPS kept “rerouting” to get you going back in the right direction, God gives us His Word, His Spirit, and His people to help “reroute” us when we get off track.