Family Devotional
The Birds and the Bees
In this 3-lesson series we help kids and parents talk about sex and purity and stuff. They might as well hear it from you, right? Recommended for 5th and 6th graders.
What’s the Deal with Sex?
Have you ever seen a wrapped present sitting under the tree at Christmas and felt super curious about what was inside? You might tap it, shake it, or try to peek under the tape, but your parents always tell you, “Not yet! Wait until the right time!” If you tear it open early, you ruin the big surprise and lose out on the best part of the experience.
God created sex as a really special, beautiful gift, but just like that Christmas present, He set a specific time and place for it to be opened. God’s plan is for sex to be saved exclusively for marriage between a husband and a wife. It isn’t something dirty or bad, but because it is so incredibly special, God put protective boundaries around it so nobody gets hurt.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
When you hear jokes on the playground, see things on TV, or hear older kids talking about stuff that feels confusing, God wants you to protect your heart and mind. Winning at this means respecting your own body and respecting others. Your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, which means it is valuable, sacred, and worth guarding!
Here’s a great life hack for when you encounter confusing stuff online or at school: don’t try to figure it out alone or keep it a secret. Instead, go straight to your parents or a trusted adult and ask them your questions. When we honor God with our bodies and choices, we show Jesus’ love and walk in the absolute best path He created for us.
Talk About It
- What is the best surprise gift you have ever had to wait patiently to open?
- What verse did we read about our bodies being a temple of the Holy Spirit, and where is it found in the Bible?
- Parents, when you were kids, who was someone you could go to when you had awkward or hard questions?
- Why can it feel hard or weird to talk about these kinds of topics, and how can Jesus give us courage to talk to our parents instead of listening to rumors at school?
- What is one practical rule our family can set up to make sure we keep our eyes, minds, and hearts focused on things that honor God this week?
A Thing Called Purity
Imagine filling up a glass of ice-cold water on a super hot day after running around at recess. Right before you take a big sip, somebody drops a tiny specks of dirt into your cup. Even if it’s just a little bit of mud, you wouldn’t want to drink it anymore, right? You want your water to be completely clean and pure!
Purity is just a fancy word for keeping things clean and honoring God with our whole lives. God wants us to have pure hearts, pure minds, and pure eyes because He cares so much about us. When we fill our minds with junk—like bad language, mean shows, or inappropriate pictures on the internet—it’s like throwing dirt into our clean water cup.
Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Living out purity starts with how we think, how we talk, and what we choose to look at every day. If you make sure to think right and talk right, it becomes so much easier to act right! That means choosing video games, movies, and YouTube videos that make God happy, and using kind words that build other people up instead of put them down.
Here’s a life hack to win at keeping a pure heart this week: practice the “look away” rule! If something pops up on a screen or pops into a conversation that feels sneaky, dirty, or wrong, turn your eyes away fast and talk to a parent right away. When we guard our hearts and guard our eyes, we stay super strong in Jesus’ amazing love!
Talk About It
- If you had to name the cleanest, purest thing in the entire world, what would it be?
- What main verse did we read about turning our eyes away from worthless things, and where is it found in the Bible?
- Parents, when you were kids, what was a show or trend that your parents helped you avoid so you could protect your heart?
- Why is it so hard to turn our eyes away when a sneaky image or bad video pops up, and how can Jesus give us courage to get help?
- What is one practical rule our family can follow to guard what we watch and listen to on our screens this week?
What to Do About Sexual Temptation
Imagine standing in the kitchen right before dinner, and there’s a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies sitting on the counter. Your belly rumbles, and a sneaky little voice in your head whispers, “Just grab one! No one is looking!” That tricky pull inside you to do something you know you shouldn’t is called temptation, and every single person deals with it.
Temptation itself isn’t a sin, but what you choose to do next matters a whole lot to God. When wrong thoughts try to sneak into our minds—like taking a cookie without asking, saying dirty words, or looking at inappropriate stuff on a screen—God doesn’t leave us stranded. He gives us a clear action plan so we can stay strong and win against temptation every single time.
2 Timothy 2:22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
Winning against temptation takes four super important steps: take your thoughts captive, run away from the bad stuff, run toward good stuff, and tell a trusted adult! Taking thoughts captive means acting like a superhero guard at the door of your mind. When a sneaky or dirty thought tries to march in, you trap it right away and throw it in the trash instead of letting it hang out.
Here’s a life hack to beat temptation this week: use the “Run & Replace” strategy! The very second you feel tempted to look at something wrong, say something bad, or break a rule, literally walk or run away from that place. Then, immediately replace that bad thought by doing something awesome, like playing outside, reading a book, or praying to God. When we run toward good things and talk to our parents, Jesus gives us all the power we need to shine!
Talk About It
- If you had to build the ultimate giant obstacle course to run away from temptation, what crazy obstacles would be in it?
- What verse did we read about running away from bad things and pursuing righteousness, and where is it found in the Bible?
- Parents, when you were kids, what was a common temptation you faced, and how did your parents or God help you handle it?
- Why can it feel so scary or embarrassing to tell a parent when we’re struggling with temptation, and how can Jesus give us courage to be honest?
- What is one practical action plan our family can make today so we know exactly what to do when temptation pops up this week?
Love our curriculum?
When you donate, you help us keep these resources accessible to parents, teachers, and kids' ministries around the globe.
PursueGOD is a 501(c)3 non-profit entity. All gifts are tax-deductible. SSL secured website.