Family Devotional

Read the parable of the talents from Matthew 25 or follow the linke to watch the story from Saddleback Kids

God has given us each gifts, talents, belongings to use for Him! We have a choice to make. We can use them to worship Him and help others know Him or we can keep them for ourselves.

Talk about it: In Jesus’ story, who used their talents or coins wisely? Who used them selfishly? Why do you think the master was upset with the third servant?

The third servant chose to be selfish out of fear. He was afraid to lose what he was given. Because of that, he did nothing and lost everything.

Let’s make a list of some items or talents we have on this page. Once you have all listed a few things, draw an arrow next to each one. Now, let’s brainstorm how these can be used to worship God. (example: extra toys or clothes--donated to a foster closet or sold in a garage sale with earnings being donated, computer skills--help run the slides at church, caring for hurting people--make cards and deliver them to a nursing home)

Define it: Our word for this week is commitment. Do you know what it means? It is sticking with something, even when it is hard.

Letting God use our gifts and belongings can be hard. We can worry that we will not have enough for ourselves. Or we can worry that we won’t do a good enough job, like the third servant.

But the only way that we can not do a good enough job, is to not do anything. To hide away and keep everything to ourselves. God is asking us to work with Him in order to tell more people about Jesus.

A lot of times when you make a commitment, it involves writing your name. If you want to commit to working with and for God, let’s sign our names on a special paper together to say that we will be a family who will use what God has given us, no matter what that is!