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Righteousness

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Shining righteousness

Getting into nature

Watch a sunrise and discuss the importance of starting each day with God.

Discussion point: Don’t fret over another’s sin; talk to God about it instead (Psalm 37:5-7).

Use the sun as an illustration for how brightly our lives shine when we choose to live righteously. If your kids like to be active outdoors, take a walk and watch the sunrise or head out at midday and soak in some warm rays (with sunscreen on). As you view the glory of the sun, read Psalm 37:5-7. The questions provided below can be used to guide your discussion. When you get home, make a sunrise or a sunshine picture and write a family motto on it as a reminder to “commit your way to the Lord” each new day.

Questions for discussion
  • How do we usually start the day?
  • What does Psalm 37:5 tell us to do?
  • If we commit our way to God, what does He say He will do?
  • Can you think of a rhyme that will help us remember to give our day to God when we see the sun shining?
  • When you see someone getting away with doing wrong, how does it make you feel?
  • Instead of fretting over the other person’s sin, what does God want you to do?
Key concepts

Most people start the day by eating breakfast. This is the way we refuel our physical bodies to give them energy to go through the day. It is also important to feed ourselves spiritually at the start of each day. Taking time to connect with God in the morning is a great way to remind ourselves that we want to obey God and honour Him with the way we live during the day. We can “feed” ourselves spiritually by reading our Bibles and praying.

The Bible tells us that if we commit (or dedicate/give) our way to God, He will make our righteousness shine like the dawn. In other words, when we ask God to guide our lives, He will help us live righteously. Some examples of “family mottoes” you can use as a reminder to begin your day with God include:

Pray to start the day.

At the start of each day, we ask God to guide our way.

When God guides our way, we have a better day.

Sometimes it can be hard to choose to do the right thing, especially when people all around you are doing wrong. The Bible tells us that when others do wrong, we are to “be still before God.” This means that we are to take our concerns about other people’s sins to God. Instead of fretting over someone else’s sin, we can simply say to ourselves, “I am going to talk to God about this,” and pray instead of getting all upset.

Relevant Scripture

Psalm 37:5-7 “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

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