POINT #2 – IN THE RIGHT POSITION
Can you recite the scripture memory verse from Point #1? (“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 NKJV) We talked about the first part of this scripture already. We said that we would fight against the enemy and not let him hold us down and be overcome by evil. That we would do our best to follow Jesus and His ways, so that we could be free from the enemy and not overcome by him and his tricks and plans.
What do you think it means to “overcome evil with good?” (Allow your child to answer : means we are going to DO good to overcome or beat the evil the enemy brings against us). If we overcome WITH good, it means we are going to DO good. This means 2 things: 1) we have to BE in the right place/right position WITH God, and 2) we USE good. For point #2 we are going to talk about what it means to be in the right place/position with God.
What do you think it means to be in the right place or right position with God? (allow your child to answer) Being in the right place/position with God means that we are spending time with Him. We are talking to Him in prayer, reading His Word in the Bible, we are praising and worshipping Him, we are choosing to replace bad thoughts and lies from the enemy with good, truthful thoughts from Jesus. This means we need to be in the right “frame” of mind. What does that mean? (allow your child to answer) It means we need to think like Jesus. Can we do that? (allow your child to anwer)
The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT), “For, ‘Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?’ But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” We can know what Jesus thinks about things. He tells us so much in the Bible. He also speaks right to our heart and our thoughts. He even tells us WHAT to think about. In Philippians 4:8 (ERV) the Bible says, “Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” These are the things Jesus wants us to spend our time thinking about. He doesn’t want us spending our time thinking about the things we are scared of, or the thoughts that cause us to be worried or stressed, or about what makes us mad. That is not having the mind of Christ, and it gives power to the enemy. We don’t ever want to give him power over us or our thoughts or our mind. We fight against him by only thinking about the things Jesus told us to think about.
Discussion Questions
- What are some good thoughts that you have or things that you like to think about?
- Why is it important to think about good thoughts and not bad thoughts?
- Is it hard to not think about bad thoughts?
- What are some bad thoughts that you have or have had?
- What should we do when we have bad thoughts that come to our mind?
Scripture memory verse: (either or both)
“Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” – Philippians 4:8 ERV
“For, ‘Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?’ But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16 NLT
Prayer
Jesus, we want to always be in the right place, in the right position with you. Holy Spirit, help us, guide and lead us into that place and position. We are so thankful that the Bible says that we can have the mind of Christ. We know if the Bible says it, then it is true. Helps us to have the mind of Christ, Holy Spirit. When we start to have bad thoughts, ideas or things we start to think about, we ask you to help us to choose to change our thoughts. To choose to think about good thoughts. Things that are true, honorable, right, pure, beautiful and respected. Help us to be strong to change our thoughts, Jesus. We pray all of this in your mighty name, amen.
Activity
Parents…Spend some time with your kids as a family and think about things that are good. What are you all thankful for? What does God say about you? Who are you in Christ? What dreams has God put inside of you? What has He saved you from or helped you overcome? Share these things, write them down, draw or color vision and dreams. Put some worship music on and let the Holy Spirit flow!
Worship Song
“King of My Heart”