How to Be a Better Kid

Darrell R. Ferguson

www.FoodForYourSoul.net

How to Be a Better Kid
published by Food For Your Soul Press 

© copryright 2014 by Food For Your Soul Ministries. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1  How to Become a Christian
Chapter 2  How to Live the Christian Life
Chapter 3 Virtues
Chapter 4 Obeying Your Parents
Chapter 5 Getting Along with Brothers and Sisters
Chapter 6 Fun!
Chapter 7 Diligence
Chapter 8 Your Room
Chapter 9 Music
Chapter 10  TV, Movies and Games
Chapter 11 School
Chapter 12 Friends
Chapter 13 Fear
Chapter 14 Devotions Schedule
Chapter 14 Your Body & Sex
Chapter 15 Fighting Temptation

Introduction

Each chapter in this book starts with a devotions schedule. This will help you spend time each day reading your Bible and praying. 

You can check the box next to each thing you do. (You might want to ask your parents if they will give you a prize once you get all the boxes checked.)

The passages you are supposed to read each day are very short. That’s so you can have enough time to really think hard about them. God does not want us to read the Bible too fast. He wants us to think hard.

So when you read the verses, ask yourself lots of questions, like:
-	Why does God want me to know this?
-	Now that I understand what this verse is saying, what should I do different in my life?
-	What can I learn about God from this verse?

(I’ll give you some questions to think about for each verse to help get you started.) When you think you have thought about the passage as much as you can, try to think about it a little more.

Chapter 1 Devotions Schedule

Day 1
•	Read about sin in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses
-	Who gets punished by God?
-	Why do those people get punished so much?
-	Are you one of those people who will be punished, or one of the ones who will be amazed and glorify Him when He comes?
•	Write down 5 things that are amazing about God and talk to your parents about them.
___________________________________________________________________________

•	Pray about what you have learned.

Day 2
•	Read about forgiveness in Romans 4:7-8 and 1 John 1:9.
•	Think about:
-	What do we learn about God from these verses?
-	Why are some people forgiven and other people are not?
-	Do you confess your sins to God every day?
•	Think of as all the sins you can remember that you committed today, and confess them to God. (Start doing this every day from now on.)

Day 3
•	Read about faith in Romans 4:4,5 (This passage is kind of hard, so don’t feel bad if you need to ask for help on this one.)
•	Think about:
-	What do we learn about God from these verses?
-	Should we work to make ourselves righteous (good) or should we seek to have righteousness credited to us (that means to have Jesus’ goodness counted as yours)?
-	Why does this verse say it’s good not to “work”?
•	Pray and ask God to help you trust Him.

Day 4
•	Read about repentance in Matthew 4:17 and Isaiah 55:7. (Repentance means turning away from sin to God).
•	Think about:
-	What do we learn about God in these verses? 
-	Why do you think repentance was the main thing Jesus preached? 
-	Have you repented? Is there any sin in your heart that you won’t give up?
•	Write down 3 sins in your life that you need to repent of. Ask your parents to help you turn from those sins.
_____________________________________________

•	Ask God to forgive you and to help you turn from those sins.

Day 5
•	Read chapter 1 of this book called “How to become a Christian”, and think hard about each of the verses you read in the chapter. 
•	Check this box when you have memorized John 3:16.
•	Pray about what you have learned.

Chapter 1 
How to Become a Christian

Chances are you’ve always been told this is how to become a Christian: “Just invite Jesus into your heart.” But does the Bible actually say that? And what does that really mean anyway?

John 1:12 To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

The word received means “to welcome.” To become a Christian you need to welcome Jesus into your life. And that happens not by praying a prayer, but only through faith.

What is sin?

Sin is anytime you like something in this world more than you like God. Whenever we do bad things or think bad things or say bad things it is because we like something in this world more than God. 

Sin makes your heart dirty. And there is nothing you can do to clean your own heart. The only way it can be cleaned is if you admit your heart is dirty and ask Jesus to clean it.

When you decide to turn away from your sin and follow Jesus, that is called repentance. When you do that, Jesus cleans your heart forever.

Lots of people remember what Jesus said in John 3:16 - "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

The word “perish” means to go to hell. “Eternal life” is what you get in heaven. Everyone who has ever sinned needs to be punished (because God is a perfect Judge). And the right punishment for sin against God is hell. That means every single person deserves to go to hell to pay for their sin!

If God gives us what we deserve, we will go to hell to be punished forever!  But look back at what Jesus said – God loves us.  He does not want to send us to hell. So how can He forgive us, but still be a perfect judge? The penalty for our sin has to be paid, but God does not want us to have to pay it.

God had a plan. His plan was to become a man Himself (that’s who Jesus is), and He would live a perfect life without any sin at all, and then He would pay our penalty for us! That is why Jesus died on the cross. So now the penalty is paid!

Does that mean everyone gets to go to heaven? No. Jesus’ death on the cross does not count for everyone. It only counts for some people. And the only way you can go to heaven and get eternal life is if Jesus’ death counts for you.  

So how do you make it count for you? Look at what Jesus said again – who gets eternal life? “Whoever believes in him”

You cannot become a Christian by being a good person or by praying or going to church or obeying your parents or even by asking Jesus into your heart. The only way is to believe.

So what does it mean to believe? There are two parts: 
1) Agreeing that the Bible is true, and 
2) Trusting Jesus enough to follow His way.

For the more advanced student

How do you know for sure if you are a Christian? You say, “I think I believe, and I think I trust God. But how do I know for sure if my faith is real? How can I be sure I’m going to heaven?

One of the best ways to know is by your desires. What is most important to you? God’s pleasure or your pleasure? 

A true Christian is someone who wants more than anything to be godly and Christ-like. If they had one wish it would be that they would never sin again.

People whose faith is not real would use their one wish another way. If God granted them one wish they would never pick sinlessness, because deep down they love their sin and do not want to give it up.

If your desires are for godly things more than worldly things, that is good evidence that your faith is real.

Sometimes people forget about that second part. They understand the first part. They believe that Jesus is God, that He created the world and that He is perfect. They believe He was born into this world as a man and died for our sins in our place. And they believe that after He died and was buried, He rose again back to life and rose up to heaven and is still alive today.

Some people believe all that is true, but they don’t really trust Jesus. Here is what it means to trust Jesus:
If you trust Jesus, you will not try to deserve heaven. You just understand that Jesus is the only One who deserves heaven, and He gives it to us even though we don’t deserve it.

And if you trust Jesus, you will want to do what He wants, because you trust that His way is best. If you really trust Him and believe that He is better than anything in this world, you will be willing to give up anything for Him. You would rather do what He wants more than ANYTHING else. Jesus will be more important to you than your toys, more important than your friends, more important than your mom and dad – even more important than your life. 

And if you really trust Jesus, you will love Him with all your heart.

Do you believe the truth about Jesus? And do you trust Him? Do you love Him? If so, then you are a Christian, and you have eternal life!

If you don’t trust Him, pray, and say, “Dear God, please help me to believe Your Word and really trust You.”

Chapter 2 Devotions Schedule

Day 6
•	Read the first part of Chapter 2 of this book (about the Bible).
•	Read about the Bible in Psalm 19:7-11.
•	Check this box when you have memorized Psalm 119:11.
•	What are the things these verses say that we can expect to happen to us when we read the Bible?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-	Of all the good things this Psalm says we get from the Bible, which one do you want the most for yourself?

•	Pray and ask God to give you the things that He said will come from the Bible (the things you wrote down on the last page).
•	Read Psalm 23 and see if you get any of those things. Keep thinking about it until you get at least one of those things.

Day 7
•	Read the part of Chapter 2 of this book about prayer.
•	Read about prayer in Ephesians 6:18.
•	Think about:
-	The verse says to pray with all kinds of prayers. How many different kinds of prayer can you think of? Ask your mom and dad to help you.
___________________________________________________________________________

-	Do you pray with all those kinds of prayer?
•	Pray with each of the different kinds of prayer.
•	Check this box when you have memorized Matthew 26:41.

Day 8
•	Read the part of Chapter 2 of this book about fellowship.
•	Read about fellowship in 1 Corinthians 12:14-20. 
•	Think about:
-	How is the church like a body?
-	What part of the body are you (What is your job in the church?)
-	Are some people’s jobs more important than other people’s jobs?
•	Pray and ask God to help you get better at your job in the church. (Or if you don’t know what your job is, ask God to help you find out.)
•	Check this box when you have memorized Hebrews 10:25.

Day 9
•	Read the part of Chapter 2 of this book about worship.
•	Read about Communion in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30.
•	Think about:
-	What do we learn about God in these verses? 
-	What does God care about most when we worship?
-	What do these verses say is the wrong way to worship?
•	Pray and ask God to help you become a better worshipper. 

Day 10
•	Read Acts 2:42.
•	What were the things the church devoted themselves to?
____________________________________________________________

•	Read the end of Chapter 2 of this book about repentance.
•	Read 1 John 1:9.
•	Pray, and thank God for forgiving your sins!

Chapter 2 
How to Live the Christian Life

Now that you are a Christian, what’s next? What are you supposed to do each day to grow and become a better Christian?

The most important thing is to have God’s power in your life. And that comes from the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God, and He lives inside every Christian. The more power you get from the Holy Spirit, the better your life will be.

That is always how you become a better person. You cannot change your heart by yourself. Without power from God, you cannot make yourself more loving or more humble or more kind or more obedient to your parents. You cannot get rid of the sin in your heart. Only God can do those things.

So how do you get power from the Holy Spirit to change your heart? Three ways:

1. The Bible

When the Holy Spirit gives power in your life, He does it through the Bible. That’s why the Bible is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph.6:17). 

Reading the Bible and thinking about it and believing it is like eating food. If you went all day without eating any food, you would feel really tired and weak. Food gives you strength. The Bible is like food for your heart and soul. It makes you strong so you can do what makes Jesus happy.

Pick a time that you will read your Bible every day. Read slowly, and really think about what it means. If there is something you do not understand, ask someone what it means.

When you get to something you think is important for your life, memorize it. That way you can think about it all day. 

Thinking about something the Bible says is called “meditation,” and it is one of the most important things you can ever do. You will never understand the Bible unless you meditate on it. That is why you need to memorize – so you can meditate all day and when you are going to sleep at night.

What’s the best Bible to use?

One good choice for children who want a real Bible (not just a Bible story book) is the HCSB Illustrated Study Bible for Kids. 

2. Prayer

Another way to get power from the Holy Spirit is prayer. Prayer is paying attention to God and talking to Him. 

The hardest part about prayer is keeping your concentration. Most people have their minds wander when they pray.

Some ways to keep that from happening are: 
1.	Make a list of things to pray about.
2.	Read a Psalm and pray that Psalm to God.
3.	Write your prayers down in a journal. 
4.	Use a book like “Face to Face” (by Kenneth Boa) to help you.

Take some special time each day for prayer (right when you wake up and right when you go to bed are good times).

But you should also pray all through the day. It is important to think about God and talk to Him all the time. Try to never go more than a couple of minutes without saying something to God.

3. Fellowship

Another way to get power from the Holy Spirit is through fellowship. Fellowship is when Christians get together to help each other love God more. One important reason why we go to church is so we can help other people love God, and so they can help us.

How do you help people love God more? Lots of ways! You can do it by giving them encouragement, by being kind to them, by helping them make hard decisions, or by telling them what the Bible says about something. Sometimes we help them by sharing our money or other things with them.  

When you try to help other people at church in these ways, it gives them power from the Holy Spirit because you are using your spiritual gift.

What is a spiritual gift?

Your spiritual gift is whatever you are good at doing for the Lord.

Some people are good at teaching, some are good at comforting, some at helping people – and the list goes on. There are lots of different things people are good at.

When you serve the church by doing the things you are good at, you are giving God’s grace and power to the church. That is the most important kind of fellowship. 

A Christian should love to be with other Christians. Don’t ever let anything else (like soccer, baseball, gymnastics, scouts or anything else) become more important to you than church. If you are willing to miss church or youth group lots of the time because of sports, then sports are way too important to you.

If you are going to grow as a Christian, it is important that you go to the gatherings of the church – like Sunday worship, Sunday school and youth group.

But don’t just go. Go to help people and encourage them. Always go to church for the purpose of helping others love God more.

Worship

When you do all these things, they will give you power from the Holy Spirit so you can love God more. And when you love God more, you will worship Him.

Nothing is more important than worship.

Worship is anytime you show that God is better than everything else. When you are tempted to steal something, but you decide God is more important than the thing you want to steal, that is worship.

When you want to yell at someone, but you decide pleasing God is better, that is worship.

And when you talk or sing to God about all the things you really love about Him, that is worship.

A Christian is someone who worships the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance

What about when you mess up? Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you are always going to do what is right. Even people who love Jesus still do things that make Jesus sad (that’s what sin is).

So what should you do after you did something bad?

•	Confess. Admit to God what you did, and admit it to others that you hurt also. 
•	Ask God to forgive you.  And ask others that you hurt to forgive you. 
•	Make a decision to do everything you can not to do that sin again.  Ask your mom and dad to help you think of ways to stay away From that sin. 
•	Pray and say, “God, I want to do what makes You happy next time instead of doing what makes You sad. Please help me.”

When you do that, God forgives all your sin! He makes your heart clean, and He is happy with you again!

For the more advanced student

What part of the Bible should you read? It depends on what you’re interested in.  If you want to read about the life of Jesus, look in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John (the Gospels).

If you want to read about Bible stories, read Genesis, Exodus, or Joshua through Esther, or Daniel, or Acts. 

If you want to read about how to live the Christian life, read Romans through Jude. 

If you are really sad or happy or worried or upset, or if you want to learn what God is like, read Psalms. (One of the best things you can do is read a psalm and write down everything that psalm says about what God is like.)

If you want to learn how to make good decisions, read Job, Proverbs or Song of Songs.

Here are some great chapters to read:	

•	Romans 12 
•	1 Corinthians 13
•	Genesis 1-3
•	The book of James
•	The book of Philippians
•	The book of Colossians
•	The book of John
•	The book of Proverbs
•	Matthew 5-7
•	Matthew 18	
•	Luke 15
•	Hebrews 11
•	Romans 8
•	Ephesians 4-6
•	Romans 13
•	Revelation 4-5
•	Psalms 1,2,5,8,15,19, 23,32,33,37,42,51,73,91,100,101, 03,110,119, and 139

Chapter 3 Devotions Schedule

Day 11
•	Read the first section of Chapter 3 of this book and memorize the definition of thankfulness. 
•	Read about thankfulness in Psalm 100 & Ephesians 5:19, 20.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	When it says to give thanks for everything, does that mean even things that hurt us? Why should we be thankful for those things?
____________________________________________________________

-	Is it possible to be thankful and complain at the same time?
•	Pray and thank God for as many things as you can think of that He has done for you or given you.
•	Tell one of your friends some of the things you are especially thankful to God for.

Day 12
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on joy and memorize the definition of joy. 
•	Read about joy in John 15:9-13.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	Why did God tell us the things in this passage?
-	How do they make our joy complete?
•	Jesus says if you love others to make Jesus happy, you will have joy. Do three acts of love today and write them here:
____________________________________________________________
 
•	Pray and ask God to give you more joy.

Day 13
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on contentment and memorize the definition of contentment. 
•	Read about contentment in Job 1:13-21 and Philippians 4:11-13. 
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	Why did Job want God to be praised even though God took away everything?
-	What is the secret of being content that Paul learned?
•	Write down some things that make it hard for you to be content.

____________________________________________________________
•	Pray and ask God to help you be content and joyful even when those things happen.

Day 14
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on humility and memorize the definition of humility.
•	Read about humility in John 13:1-5 and 12-17.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses. 
-	Why do you think Jesus washed their feet?
-	People don’t wash other people’s feet anymore, but what could you do that would be kind of like what Jesus did? (That is, how could you serve someone in a humble way?)
•	Pray and ask God to help you think of three ways you could serve someone today in a special way that you normally wouldn’t do. 
•	Write down the three things you did.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Day 15
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on love and memorize the definitions of love for God and love for people.
•	Read about love in Matthew 22:34-40 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses.
-	Why do you think Jesus talks about the heart and the mind and the soul and the strength?
-	Do you love God that way?
•	Pray and ask God to show you some chances to do the things listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 today. 
•	Write down the things you did.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Day 16
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on kindness and memorize the definition of kindness.
•	Read about kindness in Luke 10:27-37.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses. 
-	What is the answer to the guy’s question – Who is my neighbor?
-	How could you do something like the Samaritan did? 
•	Who is it hardest for you to be kind to? Pray and ask God to show you some chances to be kind today – especially to those people. 
•	Write down the things you did.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Day 17
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on servanthood and memorize the definition of servanthood.
•	Read about servanthood in Mark 10:43-45 and Ephesians 6:7.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in this verse.
-	What does it mean to do your work as if you were serving the Lord not men? 
-	When do you have the hardest time doing that?
•	Pray and ask God to show you some chances to serve someone in a special way today. 
•	Write down the things you did.
____________________________________________________________
______________________________

Day 18
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on respect and memorize the definition of respect.
•	Read about respect in Romans 12:10.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in this verse.
-	When this verse says to honor one another above yourself that shows us that we already honor ourselves. In what ways do you honor yourself?
-	In Bible times they showed respect and honor by bowing down or by calling someone “master.” How can people today show honor to others?  
•	 Pray and ask God to show you some chances to be honor someone today – especially your mom and dad, because the Bible commands that children honor their father and mother. 
•	Write down the things you did.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Day 19
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on honesty and memorize the definition of honesty.
•	Read about honesty in Proverbs 6:16-19 and Revelation 21:7-8.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses.
-	Why do you think God hates lying so much?
-	When are you most tempted to lie?
-	When is the last time you lied? Have you confessed that sin?
•	Check this box when you have memorized Proverbs 12:22.

Day 19
•	Read the section of Chapter 3 on forgiveness and memorize the definition of forgiveness.
•	Read about forgiveness in Ephesians 4:32 and Matthew 18:18-23.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses.
-	Think of some of the ways God has forgiven you. Do you forgive others that way?
-	Could anyone ever do anything to you that is worse than what you have done against God?
•	Thank God for His forgiveness. Ask Him to help you forgive people who hurt you and ask forgiveness. 

Chapter 3 Virtues

What is a virtue? A virtue is anything good that’s in your heart – like thankfulness, kindness, truthfulness, or joy.

Thankfulness

Thankfulness is when someone has loved you, and you so love him back in your heart

Thankfulness is not just saying “thank you.” You can say that and still not really be thankful.

One great way to learn more about thankfulness is by reading Psalm 100, because God said that Psalm is “a Psalm for giving thanks.”

If someone gives you something, and you are excited about what you got, but you care more about the gift than you care about the person who gave it, that is not thankfulness either.

Thankfulness is when you understand that the gift shows their love, and so you love them back.
Joy

Joy is when your happiness about God is bigger than your sadness about sad things

On Christmas morning, when you are getting ready to open all your presents, you are so happy that even if a sad thing happens, you don’t start crying. That is true even if it is something that would normally make you cry on a regular day.

The reason it doesn’t make you cry on Christmas morning is because you have joy in your heart about the presents. 

But joy about presents is a bad way to get joy, because once Christmas is over, the joy is gone. Joy that you get from being close to God never has to end!

The way to get more joy in God is to enjoy the things God does. If you really want to learn how to do that, listen to the sermon series “Loving God with all Your Heart for Children and Teens.”

Contentment

Contentment is the opposite of complaining

Every time we complain it means we think God is doing something wrong. God is in charge of everything, and so if we complain about something, we are saying “God, You made a mistake. You should have made things happen differently.”

One important passage about contentment is Matthew 26:39-42. Jesus wanted something really, really, really bad, and He asked the Father for it, but then He said, “Not what I want, but what You want Father.” That means even though Jesus really wanted the thing He was asking for, He wanted the Father’s will even more. That is contentment.

People who complain do not really trust God. When you trust God to do what is best, then whatever He lets happen – even if it hurts you, you say, “God, I know You only do good things, even when they do not seem good to me.”

Contentment is when you are happy about what God is doing, no matter what it is. When you are content, you do not want anything other than what God wants you to have.

Humility

Humility is when you care more about others than you do about yourself

Thinking about yourself all the time is pride, and pride is a terrible sin. Pride is the sin that makes you do all kinds of other sins.

Some people spend all their time thinking about how great they are. That’s pride. Others think about how bad they are all the time. That is pride too. Humility is when you think about others, not about yourself.

And you don’t just think about them – you serve them. You think about them as being more important than yourself, and so you do whatever you can to do what is best for them and to give them joy, even if you don’t feel like it.

Love

Loving God is when you really like being near Him and pleasing Him

Loving people is when you care about someone so much that you want to make them happy and help them love God 

Jesus said the most important command in the whole Bible is this: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. 

Loving God  

The way to love God more is the same as the way you love people more. Think of your best friends – how did you get so you liked them so much? By spending time with them, and enjoying that time.

It’s the same with loving God. If you spent time with Him, and you enjoy that time, that will make you love Him more.

So when you read your Bible and pray, make sure you are thinking about God being right there with you in the room, and try to really enjoy having Him there with you.

Enjoy having Him listen to you when you talk to Him. Enjoy having someone who cares about what you think. Enjoy having someone watch over you and protect you. Enjoy having someone giving you good gifts every day.

Another way to love God more is to enjoy His gifts. Whenever you eat some food or candy that tastes good, and you really enjoy it – that’s God saying, “I love you.” In your heart you can whisper, “I love You too God!”

Whenever you do something fun, and you enjoy it – that’s God making that thing fun. And He is doing it to remind you that He loves you. So when you do something that is really fun, say, “I love you too God!”

When He forgives your sins, or teaches you something about Himself, say, “I love You too God!”

If you really want to learn how to love God more, listen to the sermon series “Loving God with all Your Heart for Children and Teens.”

Loving People

Nothing will make God happier than if you love people just because He loves them.

The most famous passage in the Bible on love is 1 Corinthians 13. 

Love is almost the same thing as humility. Humility is when you think of others as more important than yourself. Love is when you care about them so much that you treat them better than you treat yourself. 

The best way to learn how to love people is by thinking a lot about how much God loves them. Then, if you love God, you will love the people He loves just because He loves them.

The Devil wants you to think that the way to be happy is to be selfish. But Jesus taught us that you will be a lot happier if you put other people first. 

Kindness

Kindness is being nice to someone because God loves that person

If you are nice because you want someone to like you, that is selfishness. If you are nice because you want people to think you are nice. That is selfishness.

Ephesians 4:31, 32 is a great passage. It is only 2 verses, but it is one of my favorites, because it tells how you can get rid of anger. You just replace it with…guess what?

But kindness is when you are nice to someone just because you think about how much God loves that person. And you love God so much, that you want to be nice to the people God loves. 

Servanthood

Servanthood is when you always want to serve others because you love God

For the more advanced student

Read Matthew 20:25-28. What principle do we learn from that passage about servanthood? How is authority in God’s kingdom different from authority in the world? And what does it mean to be someone’s servant?

Did you notice that God gave you arms and legs and feet? He also gave you a smart mind, and the ability to do lots of different things. And He even made you really good at some. 

The reason God gave you all that was so you could do His work. And His work is mostly helping other people and doing good things for them.

In 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, we learn that our job at church is just as important as our arm’s job or our leg’s job or our eye’s job on our body! That means if you are not helping at church that hurts the church just as much as if someone cut off your leg!

We should do that wherever we go – but especially in church. Are you doing anything to help at church? If not, ask your mom and dad what you could do.
Respect

Respect is when you treat someone like he is really important because He is in the image of God

Everyone that God made is really important, and the older they are, the more important you should treat them. And the most important people of all are your parents.

One great way to show that you think an adult is important is by saying “yes sir” or “yes ma’am” or “no sir” or “no ma’am” when they ask you a question or ask you to do something. 

Another way to show that people are important is by treating their stuff well. If you play with a friend’s toy, you are careful not to break it, because that person is important.

If you are in someone’s house, you do not run around or step on the furniture, because those people who bought that furniture are important.

Another great way to show people that they are important is by looking at them when you talk to them. Sometimes when kids talk to grownups they are too shy to look at them. Don’t be shy. When you look down at the ground that is like saying, “I don’t think you are important, so I won’t look at you when I talk to you.”

One great place to learn about respect is 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. 
Another one is James 3:9-15 – especially verse 9. If I do not respect someone who is in God’s image, that means I do not respect God!

Honesty

Honesty is never making someone believe something that is not true

The biggest way people usually tell lies is by saying this: “It’s not my fault.” 

Think about it – isn’t that what we always want to say when something goes wrong? We always want to blame someone else. When is the last time something went wrong and right away you said, “That was my fault”?

That is just one example of a way we sometimes are not truthful. But any time we make people believe something that is not true, we are lying.

Always remember – getting in trouble for doing something bad is always better than lying. 

Proverbs 12:22 is a really easy verse to memorize, and it will help you a lot with truthfulness. It tells how you can make God delight in you!

And if you do lie, it is better to just go and admit you lied. If you don’t, you are just lying again. And each time you lie it gets worse. Just tell the truth and ask forgiveness for whatever you did wrong.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is when you decide not to get back at someone who hurt you or be mad at them

There are lots of ways we punish people who hurt us. You can do it by getting back at them. You can do it by saying mean things about them. You can do it by thinking mean thoughts about them in your mind. You can do it by giving mean looks or by not talking to them.

For the more advanced student

If someone owed you a lot of money in those days, the law said you could have him put in prison. What was it about the story in Matthew18 that made it such a horrible thing for the first servant to throw the second one in prison? 

How does that help make it easier for you to forgive people? 

Forgiveness is when you decide not to do any of that. Instead of doing those things, you just love the person.

If you ever have trouble forgiving someone, just remember how many times God forgave you. 

If God did not forgive you, you would have to go to hell! In fact, even if God forgave all of your sins but one – still you would have to go to hell. But if you are a Christian, God has forgiven ALL the bad things you have ever done or even thought in your head! 

If God will forgive you that much, can’t you forgive something much smaller?

*************

For the more advanced student

Did you notice that all these things are things that come out of the heart? There are no actions that are virtues. That is because no action is good unless the attitude behind it is good.

Jesus said an amazing thing about that in Matthew 6:1-21. He was giving examples of the sins of the people He was talking about, and you will never believe the terrible things these people were doing. Here is the list of their sins – are you ready?
•	Giving to the poor
•	Praying
•	Fasting
Isn’t that amazing? Why do you think Jesus used those things as examples of their sins?

All these things are virtues. But be careful – don’t think you can get these things into your heart by yourself. They can only come from the Holy Spirit. And He works through the Bible. The way to get them is to ask God for them, learn what the Bible says about how to get them. 

They are hard to get, but nothing will make your life better than getting them.

Chapter 4 Devotions Schedule

Day 21
•	Memorize the definition of obedience in Chapter 4 of this book. 
•	Read about obedience in Luke 2:51, 52.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses
-	Since Jesus is God and is more important than anyone, why did He obey His parents?
•	What are 3 things that your parents tell you to do that are hard for you to obey?
_____________________________________________
_______________
•	Pray and ask God to help you obey right away, without complaining when your parents tell you to do those things.
•	Check this box when you have obeyed your parents when they told you to do those things. (You have to do it the first time they say it. If they have to say it a second time, it doesn’t count.)

Day 22

•	Read chapter 4 of this book and think hard about each of the verses you read in the chapter.
•	Pray about what you have learned and ask God to show you what He wants you to start doing differently.
•	Write down what you want to do differently from now on when it comes to obedience. 
______________________________
_______________
Chapter 4 Obeying Your Parents

The main virtue the Bible talks about for kids is obedience to parents.

Obedience

Obedience is doing what you are supposed to do, the first time, because God wants you to

There are three important parts to that. The first part is obvious – doing what you are supposed to do. But that is not all there is to obedience.

The second part is doing it the first time. If your mom tells you to do something, and you really don’t feel like doing it, so you just keep doing what you were doing – that is disobedience. 

If you wait until your mom tells you five times, or three – or even two – that is disobedience. 

If you wait until she starts to get mad, or threatens to punish you, or starts counting to three – that is disobedience.

And the third part of the definition you memorized is the most important.  You should obey because God wants you to.

Don’t just do it to stay out of trouble. Do it for God.

Close your eyes right now and see if you can say out loud what obedience is.

One really important passage in the Bible about obedience is Ephesians 6:1-3. 

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."   

The command for children to obey their parents is super-important. It is one of the 10 Commandments, and it is the first one with a promise. 

The reason it is so important is because God said He can tell how loyal a kid is to Him by how that kid obeys his parents. 

That means if you do not obey your parents, you are against God. 

There are two parts to obeying:
1)	Listening
2)	Honoring

The word “obey” means “to listen.” Don’t just do what your parents say. Really listen to them. Listen to their reasoning. Listen to their advice. Listen to their teaching. 

The other part is honoring. That means showing how important they are. 

Whenever your parents tell you to do anything, the first words out of your mouth should be “yes ma’am” or “yes sir.” Even if you have a question. If you don’t understand why you have to do something, you should say, “Yes sir” and only then say, “Can I ask…?”

If you do that, God promises a reward. The reward is your life will go better, and you will be able to enjoy God’s gifts more than other people.

That means you will enjoy reading the Bible more, enjoy praying more, enjoy church more – all of God’s gifts.
But how do I get myself to obey?

For the more advanced student

Most kids think that if they just try harder, they can make themselves become more obedient. But that never seems to work, does it?
	That is because we do not have the power to change our own hearts. That takes spiritual growth –which comes through the Bible.
	When you read your Bible, be on the lookout for what it says about honoring authority. A really good place to start is in Romans 13. That is talking about government authorities, but it applies to all authorities – including your teachers and your parents.

Sometimes a kid will try to make himself obey, but when he is tempted to do something bad, he can’t seem to make himself do what is right.

How can you make yourself more obedient?

One way is to remind yourself that disobeying your parents is the same as disobeying God. If you understand that, then the more you love God, the more you will obey your parents.

How to Talk to Your Parents

Sometimes we parents do not do a very good job at talking to our kids. We get so wrapped up in worrying about when to say yes and when to say no, and how to help you do better in school, and what to do about your messy room, we end up forgetting to just talk to you about the things that are important to you. 

But even though that happens, most parents would love to talk to their kids about things that are important to you.

Your parents are not used to you being the age you are. Your whole life you have always been younger! And now that you are getting older, you are starting to think about things that you did not used to think about. If you let your mom and dad know that, they will probably be happy to talk to you about what is on your mind.

Sometimes parents are so busy, it is hard to find a time when they can talk to you. If that happens, be creative. Send them an email or text. Or ask your dad if he will go on a walk with you once a week. 

Chapter 5 Devotions Schedule

Day 23 
•	Read about getting along in 1 Peter 2:21-23.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	Why do you think we want to get back at people who hurt us? Why is that so important to us?
-	What could you do to make it less important – or not important at all?
•	Think of the last time you got back at someone who hurt you. If that happened again, but this time you followed in Jesus’ footsteps, what would you do different?
•	Pray and ask God to help you never get back at people who hurt you.

Day 24

•	Read chapter 5 of this book and think hard about Philippians 2:3.
•	What are three things you could do to show that you think of your brothers and sisters as more important than yourself?
_____________________________________________
_______________

•	Pray and ask God to help you do those things.
•	Check this box when have done all three things you wrote down.

Chapter 5 Getting Along with Brothers and Sisters

Is your brother or sister driving you crazy? Are they mean to you when your parents are not there to see it? Do they purposely say things they know will make you mad?

What’s the solution to that problem?

Most kids think the goal should be for their brother or sister to stop bugging them. But that is not the goal. 

Never make goals that are not in your power to do. You do not have the power to make your brother stop bugging you, so that should not be your goal. 

So what is the solution to your problem? What should your goal be? It should be to find out what God wants you to do about it, and then do that.

Any time you are doing what God wants you to do, there is no problem – even if someone is giving you a hard time.

So what does God want you to do when that happens? The same thing Jesus did when people treated Him that way.

1 Peter 2:21-23, says when people are mean to you that is all part of God’s plan for you. And so you should do the same thing Jesus did when it happened to Him. He never got even. He never got back at people when they were mean to Him. And He was never mean back to them. He just trusted God to someday make things fair.

If you are kind to your brother or sister when they are mean to you, that will make God happy with you, it will make you feel good, and it might even make your brother or sister start being nicer.

But what do you do if it just makes you really mad? You try to be nice, but in your heart you are really mad. How do you make it so you do not get so angry?

Most people think they can’t help it if they get angry. They think if they are mad, it is someone else’s fault for making them mad. But that is not true. 

When you get mad at someone who is bugging you, it is because you are selfish (you care more about yourself than you care about them). 

It also means you are being prideful (you think you are too important to be treated bad).

If you care more about others than about yourself, it will not make you mad when people bug you.

And if you think of other people as being more important than yourself, no one can make you mad. That is why the Bible says, “Do nothing out of (pride), but in humility consider others more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

For the more advanced student

Jesus said if you know of someone who is mad at you, or if you are mad at someone, you need to make that relationship right, and you need to do it right now! (See Matthew 5:23-25).

Here is how you do it: 

STEP 1: Confess your own sin.
Even if it’s mostly the other person’s fault, you still need to find out if there is some sin on your side. So ask that person if he knows of anything you did wrong. And ask God too. Make a list of the sins that you are guilty of in this argument:

1. ____________________   2. ____________________   

3. ____________________   4. ____________________    

Now confess these to the other person and ask him or her to forgive you. 

James 4:1-4 says that when we have arguments, it’s because of desires we have that don’t get met. The reason you got mad at the person is because of some desire in your heart. Look at the sins you wrote down and ask, “What did I want so bad that I did those sins when I didn’t get it?”
	Make a list of those desires, and ask God’s forgiveness for making those desires too important.

1. ____________________   2. ____________________   

3. ____________________   4. ____________________    

For the more advanced student

STEP 2: Do your best to repair the friendship.

Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as for as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” 
The part that is possible and that depend on you is described in the surrounding verses (17-21). Even if the other person is not sorry and does not want to be your friend anymore, you can still do these things:

1. Do not do anything to get back at them (v.17, 19).2. Be at peace with them (v.18).3. Show them love and kindness (v.20).4. Seek to overcome their evil with good (v.21). That last one means the more someone does mean things, you do even nicer things until you win their heart.

Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Chapter 6 Devotions Schedule

Day 25
•	Read Ecclesiastes 9:7-10
•	Think about:
-	Think of as many things you can think of that God gave you to enjoy.
-	Thank God for each one of those things.
•	Read chapter 6 of this book and think hard about the right way to enjoy God’s gifts.
•	Pray and ask God to help you enjoy fun in a way that makes you love Him more.
•	Check this box when you did something fun and it helped you love God more.
•	Check this box when you wanted something fun, but didn’t get it, or had to stop before you were done, but you didn’t get upset about it.

Day 26
•	Read Ezekiel 14:1-5
•	Write down which fun things you think might be idols in your heart.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

•	Pray, and tell God that you want closeness with Him more than you want those idols. Ask Him to help you love His way more than you love fun.
•	Tell God that if you have to choose between God’s way and those things, you would choose His way.
•	Ask your mom and dad help you figure out how to let go of fun things when they get in the way of following God’s way.

Chapter 6 Fun!

Most kids care more about fun than anything else. Is it important to have fun? Does God want you to have fun? How important is it?

Fun is a good thing. God wants you to know how good He is, and so He gives us fun things so we know what He is like. 

It is also good because it is part of how God planned for you to learn. When you do fun things you learn the kinds of things you need to learn to grow up.

But sometimes fun can get to be too important. If fun is more important to you than doing what God wants, then fun is way too important to you. 

The Bible calls that an idol. When something is more important to you than doing what God wants, it is like you are worshipping an idol (an idol is anything that is more important to you than God). 

So when you would rather have fun (or anything else) than do what God wants, that is just like bowing down and worshipping a statue, because you are worshipping fun.

How to know if fun is too important to you

1.	Fun is an idol in your heart if you would sin to get it. 

If you would lie or disobey or skip church regularly or argue or steal or hang around bad friends – or anything like that so you can have fun, it is an idol.

Any time you do some fun thing even though you know God wants you to be doing something else at that time, it is an idol.

2.	Fun is an idol in your heart if you will sin when you don’t get it.

If you really, really want to do something fun, and your parents say “no,” and so you get angry, or get a bad attitude or argue or anything like that, then that fun thing is an idol in your heart.

3.	Fun is an idol in your heart if you think you have to have it to be happy.

The only thing you have to have to be happy is closeness with God. When God is close to you, you will feel happy even if there is nothing fun to do. 

But if God is not close to you, then you won’t feel happy even when you do things that are usually fun.

Whatever you think you have to have to be happy – that thing is the god of your heart that you are worshipping. 

The right way to enjoy fun things is to use those fun things to make yourself love God more. You do something fun, and remind yourself, “This fun thing is a gift from God to me to show how much He loves me. Thank You God! I love You too!” 

For the more advanced student

Read Jeremiah 2:11-13, and really think hard about verse 13. What are the two sins? What does that second sin mean? How are some ways you have done that second sin in your life?

So try to have some fun today. And when you do, don’t forget to think about how much God loves you. And tell Him, “God, You are more important to me than this fun thing.” 
Chapter 7 Devotions Schedule

Day 26
•	Memorize the definition of diligence at the beginning of chapter 7.
•	Read about diligence in Proverbs 6:6-11.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	Why does poverty come upon the lazy person?
-	What can we learn from the ant?
•	Write down some examples of how you need to become more diligent.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•	Pray and ask God to help you become diligent in those things.

Day 27

•	Read chapter 7 of this book and think hard about each of the Bible verses you read.
•	Memorize Proverbs 21:25
The desires of the lazy person will bring him to death, because his hands refuse to work.
•	At least 2 times each day, do something you know you should do, but you don’t feel like it. When you have done that 2 times each day for 4 days in a row, check this box.
•	Pray and ask God to help you become more diligent. 
Chapter 7 Diligence 

Diligence is the ability to make yourself do what you should do even when it’s hard and you don’t feel like doing it

Diligence is the opposite of laziness. 

Hebrews 6:11-12 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy.

Learning how not to be lazy is one of the hardest things for a kid to learn. We are all born lazy, and it takes a lot of work to learn diligence.

But it’s important. Life is really hard for lazy people. But things usually go well for diligent people.

One reason life is so hard for lazy people is because laziness makes everything seem hard. 

Proverbs 15:19 says, “The way of the sluggard (lazy person) is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway”. 

When you are being lazy it is like walking through thorn bushes – everything is hard. But when you are diligent, the more diligent you are, the more energy you have. 

Have you noticed that when you are being lazy, sometimes it is hard to even make yourself get up off the couch to go get a drink of water! You start asking other people to get you things. But when you are working hard, it is easy to go get a drink of water.

Diligence makes everything easier. Laziness makes everything harder.

That is why diligent people usually get better grades, have better jobs, happier families, more money and things and more energy to do what they want to do.

And more important than all of that, diligent people are like God. 

John 5:17, Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

God is active.  He works constantly – not just for the sake of work, but because it is part of His good, perfect, wonderful nature to be productive and creative. 

So activity, productivity and creativity are good, God-like qualities that glorify God. That is why diligence and productivity and hard work are important.  

God is like that, so He designed this world in such a way that things will tend to go better for you in life if you are a hard worker. 

How to Become Diligent

1. Learn to love diligence.

Learn to love it not so you can get your work done, but just because it is a good thing. Make a habit of becoming diligent even in the littlest things. 

2. Don’t make excuses.

Proverbs 22:13, The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!" 

Lazy people always have an excuse for why they can’t work. 

3. Do the hardest parts of the job first.

Most people want to start with the easiest job. But most of the times the harder parts of the job are the most important. 

If you do the easy part first, then by the time you get to the hard part, you are too tired, and don’t want to do it.

But if you do the hard part first, then you can get it all done, because you can do the easy part even if you are tired.

4. Don’t put things off.

When you see something that needs doing, do it right then. Don’t get in the habit of saying, “I’ll do it later.”

For the more advanced student

Read through the book of Proverbs in a month (one chapter per day) and put a little “D” next to every verse you can find that has to do with diligence, hard work or laziness. 

Chapter 8 Devotions Schedule

Day 28
•	Read Matthew 25:21.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from this verse.
-	What do you think you would have to do to have God say this to you?
•	Pray and ask God to show you what it means to be faithful in little things.
•	Read chapter 8 in this book and think hard about all the passages of the Bible you read.

Day 29
•	Read Matthew 25:15-26.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from this verse.
-	If Judgment Day happened today, do you think God would tell you, “Well done!” or would He call you a lazy servant?
•	Check this box when you have Matthew 25:21 memorized.
•	Pray and ask God to help you become more faithful in your responsibilities. 
•	Check this box when you have cleaned your room 10 days in a row.

Chapter 8 Your Room

You might be wondering why there is a chapter in this book about your room. The reason is, your room is a big part of your life! 

It is an important place. In this life God gives each of us an area where we have responsibility. 

(“Responsibility” means it’s something that if it is taken care of well, you are the one who gets the credit. But if it’s not, you are the one who gets in trouble.)

As you get older, you get more and more responsibilities. By the time you are an adult, you really have a lot. There are tons of things an adult has responsibility to take care of, and it is very hard to do. 

Most adults feel bad all the time because they are not doing a good job taking care of their responsibilities. 

So it is very important when you are young to learn how to take care of your area of responsibility.

Usually kids want more freedom. They want to be allowed to do more things. But when you get more freedom, you also get more responsibility. 

And God will not give you more responsibility until you show that you are doing a good job with a little responsibility.

In Matthew 25:21 Jesus told about a servant who was faithful (doing a good job) with a little bit, and here is what his master said: 

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” 

So it is important to God that you learn how to be faithful with the little responsibility you have been given. And for most kids, that is your room (and your school work).

Here are some ideas for how to take good care of your room.

1.	Put things away when you are finished with them.

In our laziness we always want to just leave it out and think, “I’ll use this later so I won’t bother putting it away now” or “I don’t feel like putting it away right now. I’ll put it away later.”

But that never happens, does it? It doesn’t happen, because when later comes, you think the same way “I’ll do it later.” Or you forget all about it.

Never wait until later unless you can’t possibly do it now. You will do so much better in your big responsibilities in life if you learn to do things now, not later. 

Later is for lazy bums.

2.	Never put things on the floor or where they don’t belong.

If you have some things that don’t seem to belong anywhere, ask your mom to help you figure out a place where they should go.

If you leave one thing on the floor, then you will leave lots of things on the floor, and pretty soon you’ll have a huge mess. Don’t put anything on the floor.

3.	When you see something that is out of place, take care of it. 

That is a good habit to have in life. Even if it is just a little scrap of paper on the floor, if you notice it, pick it up. 

If you are just starting this you might have a hundred things out of place right now. And you don’t have time to take care of all of them. That’s OK. At least get started on this habit by taking care of at least 2 things every time you walk in your room.

If you make sure your room is a little cleaner today than it was yesterday, pretty soon it will be all cleaned up.

4.	Clean your room every day.

If your room is clean one day, usually it does not get so messy in one day that it is hard to clean the next day. It is only when you go a whole bunch of days without cleaning that it gets to be a huge mess.

Usually kids don’t think they need to clean every day, because if you just got it all clean yesterday, then today it’s really not very messy. 

Only a couple things need to be put away, so you think, “It doesn’t really need cleaning, so I’ll skip cleaning today.” But that is how it gets messy. 

If you do it every single day, the job is almost always easy.

This is a good chapter to read after the chapter on diligence, because your room is the best place to learn diligence. 

Think about this proverb.

Proverbs 24:30-31 I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. 

If we applied that proverb to you, would it sound like this?

“I went past the room of the sluggard, the bedroom of the kid who isn’t smart; clothes were lying everywhere, toys covered the floor, and the dresser and desk were in ruins.”

If you start good habits with keeping your room organized, you will feel better when you are in your room, your mom will be a lot happier, and most importantly – God will be pleased. He might just say, “You have done such a good job with this responsibility, I’m going to give you something bigger”!

Chapter 9 Devotions Schedule

Day 30
•	Read Psalm 101
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	What do we learn from this Psalm about how we should think about the world’s thoughts and ideas?
-	According to this psalm, what kind of music do you think a Christian should listen to?
•	Read chapter 9 of this book.
•	Pray and ask God to help you please Him with your music.
•	Check this box when you have memorized Psalm 101:3.
•	Check this box when you have gotten rid of all music that doesn’t help you love God more.

	

Chapter 9 Music

For most kids, the older they get, the more they listen to music. And by the time they are teenagers they are listening to music every minute that they can. 

In fact for most teens, music is an idol in their hearts. They worship it. It is more important to them than God’s will.

But music can be a really good thing in your life too. The music you listen to changes the way you think and the way you feel. 

Some music will help you think things that are true and that please God, and make you feel happier.

Other music can make you think bad things and feel angry or sad or selfish.

Everything in your life should make Jesus happy – especially the kind of music you listen to and the way you listen to it.

Principles for pleasing God with your music

1. Do not worship the music. Use the music to worship God.

Anytime your music becomes more important to you than doing what God wants, you are worshipping the music.

Always be watching your life to see if you ever make a decision that God would not want you to make, and you do it because of music.

If you ever decide to sin because of music, you know it is an idol in your heart. 

If you get mad when something interferes with listening to music, that music is an idol in your heart. 

If you think you need that music in order to be happy, that music has become an idol in your heart.

God hates idols. If music is an idol in your heart, that is a serious problem.

Music should help you worship God. Use music to help you think about godly things.

2. Don’t listen to music with non-Christian words.

There is no reason to listen to people who are not Christians sing about their thoughts and ideas. Those thoughts and ideas are what the Bible calls “human wisdom”, and they are not good. 

The words in the music we listen to should be words that make us think about God and love Him more.

All the world’s music will do is make you think about the things non-Christians like to think about. And that will make it harder for you to live like a Christian. 

If people who love Jesus are singing, and people who do not love Jesus are singing, if we love Jesus, why would we want to listen to the people who do not love Jesus?

Some kids say, “I don’t listen to the words – just the music.”

First of all, that is not true. Maybe you do not think you are listening to the words, but those words sink into your head. When you hear a song enough times, pretty soon you will find you can sing right along with it.

But even if it were possible not to listen to the words, it is still not helping you worship God. 

Why not listen to music that is all about God, and then you can listen to the words and they will help you think godly things?

If you are used to the world’s music, it may take a while before you are able to learn to like Christian music, because it is different. Of course music that honors God will be different from the world’s music. But if your attitude is right, you can learn to love it.

3. Use music to remind yourself of God’s goodness.

One great thing about being a kid – especially being a teenager, is that is a time of life when you can really enjoy music. Most teenagers enjoy music more than adults do.

And you can use that to help you enjoy God.

The next time you find yourself listening to some good music and really liking it, remind yourself, “The reason I like this is because something about it shows the goodness of God.”

And the happiness you feel when you listen – God gave you that feeling so you would know a little bit about how heaven will feel. And that should make you get more and more excited about heaven!

Chapter 10 Devotions Schedule

Day 31
•	Read Psalm 101
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God from these verses.
-	How can you apply the principles from this psalm to TV, movies and video games?
•	Read chapter 10 of this book.
•	Pray about what you have learned.
•	Check this box when you have memorized Psalm 101:4.
•	Talk to your mom and dad about what kinds of things you can do will bring you the greatest happiness and joy in your life.

Day 32
•	Read Proverbs 21:25-26
•	Think about:
-	What will your life be like if you train yourself to be lazy?
-	What will your life be like if you train yourself not to be lazy?
•	How much time do you think Jesus wants you to spend each day watching TV or playing games? Ask your mom and dad to help you figure this out.
•	When you figure out the right amount of time, make a decision that you will not spend more than that amount of time each day on easy things. Ask your mom and dad to help.
•	Pray and tell God about your decision, and ask Him to help you.

Chapter 10  TV, Movies and Games

I hope you still remember what you learned in chapter 9 about music, because everything in that chapter about music also applies to TV, movies, and video games.

Almost everyone I know thinks they watch too much TV. TV is so tempting. It is probably the easiest thing there is to do (sometimes it is even easier than going to sleep at night!).

Most kids, if they can choose to do anything, will choose to either watch TV, watch a movie, or play video games.

But even though those are kids’ favorite things to do, they are not the things that make you the happiest. 

In fact, most of the time they do just the opposite. Most kids, after watching a lot of TV, are grumpier, lazier, complain more, and fight more.

It seems like it will make you happy, but it doesn’t make you happy at all!

One reason for that is that the programs on TV, (and the commercials especially), are all trying to get you to be more selfish. 

And when you get more selfish, you get grumpy and complain because people aren’t doing everything you want.

You also get lazier because selfishness makes you never want to be uncomfortable.

And you argue with your brothers and sisters more because when you are selfish you see everything they are doing wrong.

Nobody feels really good and excited and happy after watching a bunch of TV.

And when you ask someone to think back on the best times in their life, they never say, “Oh, it was one day when I sat and watched a cartoon.” 

So if TV does not really make us feel good and does not give us true joy, why do we always want to watch it? 

It is because it is the easiest thing there is to do. You never have to think hard when you watch TV. 

Thinking hard is hard work. And in our laziness we do not want to do it. That is why we would rather watch TV than read our Bibles or pray. 

But real joy comes from things that are hard.

Think of the best day you can remember in your life. I bet someone had to do a lot of work for that day to happen.

If you went to Disneyland or some other vacation, that came from a lot of hard work that your parents did. They had to earn enough money to go, they had to make plans, get time off work, find someone to take care of your house and pets, travel to Disneyland, and a whole bunch of other things.

It would have been a lot easier, instead of doing all that, if your dad would have just stayed home and watched TV or played video games. Aren’t you glad he didn’t?

The Bible warns us about loving the easy things too much. 

In Bible times they did not have video games or television, so the easiest thing for them was to just sleep.

Proverbs 20:13 Do not love sleep or you will grow poor.

That verse teaches us not to love the easy things. For us it might say, “Do not love TV and games, or you will grow poor.”

When you love the easiest things to do, you never do the important things – the things that bring real happiness and joy.

Chapter 11 Devotions Schedule

Day 33
•	Read Ephesians 6:5-8.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses.
-	What do we learn about work in these verses?
•	Read the first half of chapter 11 of this book (up to the part that says, “Your Witness”).
•	Write down three things that you haven’t really being doing as if it were for the Lord.
_____________________________________________

•	Pray and ask God to help you do those things as if you were doing them for Him.
•	Check this box when you have done each of those things at least one time with an attitude of doing it the way you would if it were for Jesus. 

Day 34
•	Read Romans 10:13-15.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses
-	What is the answer to all the questions Paul asks in these verses? 
-	What does that mean for your non-Christian friends?
•	Read the rest of chapter 11 (starting with “Your Witness”)
•	Pray and thank God that He made sure someone told you about Jesus, and that person was not too embarrassed or shy to tell you.
•	Check this box when you have told someone who is not a Christian how to become a Christian. 

Chapter 11 School

Some kids love school and some kids hate school. 

School is really easy for some kids and really hard for other kids. Some kids love to be around lots of other kids; others want to be alone or with just one friend. Some kids do not like doing homework; other kids… well, I guess pretty much all kids do not like doing homework.

Whichever kind of kid you are, you need to know how God wants you to think about school, because school is a huge part of your life.

The Bible teaches us a lot of things about work. We have already studied about diligence in chapter 7 of this book (I hope you weren’t too lazy to read that chapter!). Everything we learned about diligence we should apply to school. 

In fact, everything the Bible says about work applies to school. 

And the main thing the Bible tells us about work comes from what the Bible says to slaves.

Ephesians 6:5-8 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 

If you are doing the devotions in this book then you have already thought hard about these verses, and so you probably already noticed the main point: that we should do our work as if we were serving God.

That means when you clean up the living room in your house, you should clean it like you would if it were Jesus’ living room in His house. 

If Jesus asked you to clean His backyard or bathroom, do you think you would do a good job? You would work your hardest! And that is the attitude we should have about all our work – including school work.

Don’t work hard just to get good grades. Work hard because you are doing your work as if you were doing it for the Lord. 

Work hard because God is pleased with hard work. It means a lot to Him when you do something well because you love Him. (If you do something well for any other reason, that doesn’t mean anything.)

Your Witness

Another important part of being a Christian at school is what is called your “witness.” A witness is someone who knows about something that has happened and can tell you the truth about it.

For example, if someone witnesses a car crash, that means he saw it happen and can tell you the truth about how it happened.

The Bible says we are witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. So the way we live our lives, and the words we speak should tell the truth about God.

Most people will never read the Bible. So the only way they know about God is by watching your life and listening to what you say. Since you are a Christian, the things you do teach people about God.

If you are mean to someone, that teaches the other kids that God is mean (because His people are mean). If you steal, that teaches them that God doesn’t mind stealing. If you are selfish, that teaches them that God is not loving.

Every day you should go to school thinking, “Today I want my life to tell the truth about God.” 

And not just your life – but also your words.

No one can become a Christian just by watching your life – no matter how good you are. They can only become Christians if they hear someone tell them how to become a Christian (if you want to learn how to do that, read chapter 1 of this book). 

Think of your friends and teachers at school (and in your neighborhood). If no one tells them how to become Christians, when they die they will go to hell forever! You might feel shy about telling them, but isn’t it worth feeling a little embarrassed to save someone from going to hell?

If you saw a house on fire, and you looked in the window and saw that the people did not know it was on fire, would you say, “I better not tell them. They might look at me funny. I think I will just let them all burn to death”? No! You would run right in the house without knocking and yell at them, “Get out of here – the house is on fire!” And you would not care what they thought.

But people who are not Christians are headed for a worse fire than that. We need to tell them about Jesus!

Chapter 12 Devotions Schedule

Day 35
•	Read Psalm 1.
•	Think about:
-	What we learn about God in these verses
-	Why are we tempted to want to hang out with people who have bad counsel (ideas), who love sin and who make fun of godliness? 
•	Check this box when you have memorized Proverbs 13:20.
•	Read Chapter 12 of this book.
•	Is there someone at school that doesn’t really have any friends? Check this box when you have done something to be a friend to that kid.
•	Pray and ask God to help you love Him and His people and His Word, and not this world and their ideas.

Chapter 12 Friends

The most important thing about you is what you love. 

Either you love the world and their ideas, or you love God and His people and His Word. And you can tell what you love the most by the decision you make. 

Think about this – is it good to be friends with non-Christians or not?

It depends on why you want to be friends with them. If you want to be friends with them so they can become Christians, that is good.

But if you want to be friends with them because you like their non-Christian way of thinking and living, that is bad.

If you want to know if your friendships with non-Christians are good, just think about the time you spend with them and ask yourself, “Am I changing them or are they changing me?” 

God told Jeremiah, Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. (Jeremiah 15:19).

If they are rubbing off on you, and you find that you are less interested in following God when you are around them, you need to stop hanging around them.

You cannot love God and love the world at the same time. You have to pick one or the other. 

James 4:4-5 Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 

You can tell how much you love God by who you pick as a best friend. If you enjoy spending time with non-Christians more than you enjoy spending time with Christians, it means you are starting to love the world more than God.

But sometimes finding a good friend is hard to do. Some people do not have any good friends – not because they love the world, but just because they cannot find any good friends.

The best way to find a good friend is to be a good friend. 

There are lots of kids who do not have any friends. Maybe there is something different about them, and so all the other kids make fun of them. 

Make sure you are a good friend to those kids. 

Kids like that are what the Bible calls “the oppressed” (“oppressed” means “being treated badly or unfairly”). 

God has a special love for the oppressed (Psalm 10:17, 18). And God will reward anyone who shows love to the oppressed because of Him. 

If you are a good friend to those kids, you will always have friends (because there are always those kinds of kids). And the kids who would make really good best friends for you – the kids who love God – those kids will see you caring for the oppressed, and they will want to be your friend.

Chapter 13 Devotions Schedule

Day 36

•	Read chapter 13 of this book and pick out some verses to memorize.
•	Write down three promises that God makes to us in Psalms 27, 56, or 118.
____________________________________________________________ 
______________________________

•	Pick one verse from all the verses in chapter 13 and memorize it. Check this box when you have it memorized.
•	Pray and ask God to help you learn how to trust Him to protect you, so you won’t be afraid.

Chapter 13 Fear
What to do when you’re afraid

Being afraid is one of the worst feelings there is. And once you are scared, it is hard to stop being scared. 

What should you do when you are afraid? Like when you are lying in your bed, and scary things come into your mind? How can you get rid of that fear?

One of the best things you can do is read the Bible – especially the parts that talk about God protecting you.

And when you read them, think really hard about what they are saying – I mean really, really hard. If you get good at that, it will take away your fear, because you cannot think hard about the Bible and think about what you are scared of at the same time.

Sometimes you are scared when you are in bed, and you can’t read your Bible because you need to keep the light off. That is why it is important to memorize some of these verses. 

Find the ones that are the most comforting to you, and write them on a card or ask your mom and dad to help you memorize them.

Here are some good chapters to read:

Psalm 27
A psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation — so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger — so why should I tremble? 2 When evil people come to destroy me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident. 4 The one thing I ask of the LORD — the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. 6 Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me. At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music. 7 Listen to my pleading, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me. "And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming. " 9 Do not hide yourself from me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close. 11 Teach me how to live, O LORD. Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall. 12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I've never done and breathe out violence against me. 13 Yet I am confident that I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. 14 Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. 

Psalm 56
(David wrote this psalm when the Philistines were attacking him at a place called Gath).

Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. 2 My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. 
3 When I am afraid , I will trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid . What can mortal man do to me? 5 All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. 6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. 7 On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations. 8 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record? 9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise —  11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid . What can man do to me? 12 I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.   

Psalm 118

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever. " 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever. " 4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever. "5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!" 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.   27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Chapter 14 Devotions Schedule

Day 37
•	Read 2 Samuel 11:1-17.
•	Think about:
-	David ended up committing adultery and murder and later on God punished him, even though he repented. What happened in the story that got it all started? What was the first thing David did wrong that ended up leading to everything else?

•	Write down 2 things you learned about God in this passage and talk to your parents about them.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•	Write down some sins you are sometimes tempted to do. Pray and ask God to help you watch out for those temptations so you won’t give in like David did.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Day 38
•	Read Genesis 39
•	Underline all the times when it says the Lord was with Joseph.
•	Think about:
-	Why do you think David gave in to temptation but Joseph didn’t? What did Joseph do that was different from David?
-	What was the difference in the way God responded to David compared to Joseph? 
•	Write down 2 things you learned about God in this passage and talk to your parents about them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•	Before you go to bed tonight, write down all the times you can remember that you ran away from a temptation today. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•	Pray and thank God for helping you run away from those temptations!

Day 39
•	Read the first 7 pages of chapter 14 of this book. If you have any questions, make sure you talk to your parents.
•	Pray about what you have learned.

Day 40
•	Read the rest of chapter 14 of this book (boys read the boys’ part and girls read the girls’ part.)

•	Boys, check this box if you have made the decision never to look at pictures of women that cause lust in your heart.
•	Girls, check this box if you have made the decision never to dress in a way that brings attention to your body.
•	Check this box if you have made the decision to wait until you are old enough to get married before you start dating. 
•	Check this box if you have made the decision never to go out with a non-Christian. 

Chapter 14 Your Body & Sex

* Before you read this chapter, ask your mom and dad if it’s OK.

Your body is a wonderful thing. There is nothing on earth like it. God made a lot of amazing things in this world, but nothing as wonderful as your body.

Did you know you will have your body forever? When Jesus comes back, if you are still alive then, He will take you up to heaven – body and all! At that time He will change your body so that it will last forever without ever getting hurt or sick or wearing out.

And if you die before Jesus comes back, He will raise you from the dead – body and all, and take you to heaven.

Your body is so important to Jesus He bought it (even though it was already His because He made it). So now it is really His! 

And the price He paid was a huge price – His own life.

1 Corinthians 6 has a lot to say about the body. 

1 Cor 6:13-20 The body is not meant for sexual sin, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 

Since our bodies are very wonderful and very important to God, it is really important that we do not use our bodies for sin – especially sexual sin.

Sexual sin is when you do wrong things with the private parts of your body – things like:
-	showing them to someone else.
-	looking at someone else’s private parts (or a picture of them).
-	touching someone else’s, or letting them touch yours.

Another very wonderful thing God made is marriage. That is when a man and a woman promise to God and all their friends and even the government to live with each other and love each other for the rest of their lives.

When a man and woman get married, one of the things God wants them to do is to have sex. And here’s how that works: 

First they start doing things like hugging and holding hands and kissing to show how much they love each other.

There are different kinds of kissing. They might start out by kissing on the cheek, then on the mouth, then longer kisses with their mouth open. 

God made adult bodies so that when they do that, they start wanting to do more – a lot more. 

So they take off their clothes, see each other naked, and touch each other. The man touches and kisses the woman’s breasts, and finally the man puts his private part inside hers. That part is called “intercourse.” 

When you are a kid, that sounds gross. But it is not gross. It was all God’s idea, and when He created the first man and woman so they could do that, He said, “It is good!” 

If it doesn’t sound like something you would like now, it will when you get older. It makes the body feel really good, and it makes the man and the woman feel really loved by each other.

So for a husband and wife sex is a very good, very beautiful thing. And it makes God happy when married couples do that. 

But when you are not married, do you know what the Bible says about sex? WATCH OUT!!! Sex apart from marriage will ruin your life. 

God made us so that about the time we start turning into adults, we start wanting sex. And the desire gets stronger and stronger and stronger. The more you think about it, the stronger it gets.

When you are married that desire is a good thing, as long as it is for each other and no one else. 

But when you are not married that desire is very dangerous. There is a whole book in the Bible warning us about how dangerous it is (The Song of Songs). 

Sex is never allowed by God outside of marriage – ever. And that includes all the parts of sex, not just the end part. Any time you start doing the things that make your body want to do more – that’s part of sex.

The Bible calls that “sexual immorality” or “fornication.” 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

“Sanctified” means set apart from sin. Our lives need to be totally pure. And that includes our thoughts. 

Ephesians 5:3 Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity.

This is why I believe it is also wrong to do what is called “masturbation.” That’s when you touch or rub your own private parts to make them feel good. 

That is a habit millions of people get stuck in – especially men. And one reason why it is wrong is because when you do it, you always think of impure things, which is sin. 

The temptations for sexual immorality are very strong, and so it is important that you do some things to protect yourself from them.

One way to protect yourself is to never have a boyfriend or girlfriend until you are old enough to get married.

There is a book in the Bible called The Song of Songs, and in that book God warns girls and boys over and over – don’t fall in love before you are old enough to get married! 

If you aren’t ready to get married, then dating is a really, really bad idea. When you have feelings for someone, dating (or even calling them your boyfriend or girlfriend) will make those feelings get stronger. 

Pretty soon they will get so strong that you won’t be able to think about God very much, because all you want to think about is that person.

Then you get really sad, because you want to be with that person all the time, but you can’t because you aren’t married. So you feel miserable.

After a while, either your feelings will go away or the other person’s will go away, and when that happens, it really hurts the person who still has feelings.

A great book to read about the whole idea of dating is “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Joshua Harris. 

Some other things you need to do to protect yourself are different for boys and for girls. 
For Boys

God made men so that a big part of sex has to do with what you see. God wanted a man to experience a lot of pleasure when he sees his wife without clothes. 

The problem is, when you are not married, there is still a strong desire to see (or imagine) a woman without clothes (or with hardly any clothes). 

And whenever you see that, it makes your desires get stronger and stronger until you can’t stand it. 

And then you just want to see it more and more, which starts a habit – one of the hardest habits there is to break. 

At first you are just curious. You wonder what a woman’s body looks like, and so you look at a magazine or something online or on TV that shows a woman’s body. 

But once you see it, you just want to see it more and more and more. 

And if you do not learn to turn your eyes away when you are young, that desire to look at women will ruin your life.

Matthew 5:28 Anyone who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

You cannot help it if a lustful thought about a woman comes into your mind. But the same moment it comes in, you need to push it right back out and think about something pure instead.

If you purposely look at a woman in order to look at her body, that is sexual sin. 

Job 31:1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. 

A covenant is a deal. Job made a deal with his eyes, that he would never use them to look at a girl’s body.

Make a habit of always looking girls in the eye. Do not let yourself look down at their bodies. And do not ever look at pictures of naked women in magazines or TV or movies or anywhere else. If you do that it will make it harder for you to love your wife the right way when you get married. And it will get you into a habit that is almost impossible to break.

For Girls

The main temptation for boys is to look at girls’ bodies. The main temptation for girls is to want boys to look at them.

If you are a girl, the older you get, the more you will want boys to look at you – and to like what they see.

What most girls do not understand is that there is a big difference between being pretty and being sleazy. Both will cause boys to want to look at you and pay attention to you, but for different reasons.

If you dress the way you see the models and singers and actresses dress, lots of boys will look at you, and you will feel like it is because you are cute. But it’s not. It is because you are exposing or drawing attention to your body.

The way the world tells you to dress may look cute to you, but for a guy, all it does is make them look at your body instead of your face.

The women who are really beautiful know how to dress in a way that makes men look at their face, not their body. 

When you wear shirts that are too tight, or too loose (so you can see down the front), or short skirts that show off your legs, that draws attention to your body. It makes it hard for even a godly guy to look at your face.

Girls are tempted to do that, because they like all the attention they get. But it is a serious sin.

Matthew 18:6-8 If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come”!

It is a very bad thing to cause someone else to sin. Temptations will always be out there for guys, but woe to you (that means cursed) if you are the one causing the temptation. 

If you care about your brothers in Christ, and if you love the Lord, you will dress modestly. 

Another big temptation for girls is to want to have non-Christian boyfriends. 

So dating when you are too young to get married is a bad idea. And dating a non-Christian, no matter how old you are, is not only a bad idea – it’s a sin.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For … 15 What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

To be yoked means to have a relationship with someone where they have a strong influence on you (like a dating relationship). Some other good passages to read about this are Psalms 1 and 101.

You should never date anyone that you would not marry. And you should never marry a guy unless he is a good spiritual leader for you (you should not be the spiritual leader for him). 

And do not use the excuse that you want to make him a Christian by going out with him. That does not make people Christians. 

If he thinks he has to become a Christian to go out with you, he might pray to receive Jesus, but it probably will not be real. It will be hard even for him to know for sure if he is doing it for you, or if it is really real. 

And it is mean to put someone in a position of not knowing whether his faith is real.

Plus, when you date someone your feelings will get so wrapped up in him that you won’t be able to think very much about God, because all you will want to think about will be your boyfriend. Then, when you break up, it really, really hurts.

One other big temptation for girls is the feeling of being loved.

If a guy is nice to you, and he hugs you and is kind and shows you affection, that can be very tempting. Girls love to feel loved.

But here is what usually happens. At first the guy is just really nice. And you like that, so you are really nice to him. 

Then he starts doing things like holding your hand, or putting his arm around you. It makes you feel loved, and so you do the same kinds of things back to him.

And maybe neither one of you intends on it going any further, but it almost always does.

Your bodies don’t know that you are not married, and so things begin to progress like they would if you were married.

The guy starts wanting to touch you more and more, and the next thing you know you are letting him touch you in sinful ways. 

If you wait until right before it happens, it will be too late. 

Remember, as soon as you start doing the things that make your body want more, you have gone too far, and you need to stop.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is when two people of the same sex do sexual things with each other – a man with a man or a woman with a woman. 

People in the world think homosexuality is OK. They think some people are born that way, and so it is fine. 

But people are born with lots of temptations to sin. That does not make sin OK.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

That does not mean it is sinful to have the temptation. Temptation is not sin. 

But if you give in to the temptation by letting yourself keep thinking about it, or if you actually do it, then it is sin. It is just as sinful as any other kind of sexual immorality. 
Chapter 15 Devotions Schedule

Day 41
•	Read Matthew 4:1-11. Watch for ways that Jesus fought against temptation. Pray, and ask God to show you.
•	Talk to your mom or dad about what kinds of things Jesus did to help Him fight against temptation.
•	Read chapter 15 of this book.
•	Memorize the points for A-B-C-D-E
•	Write down one temptation you think you might face in the next few days. Pray and ask God to help you be ready for it when it comes.
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Day 42
•	Read 2 Samuel 11:1-17.
•	Talk to your mom or dad or a friend or your Sunday school teacher about what David would have done if he did the A-B-C-D-E way of fighting temptation?
•	Make sure you still remember the points for A-B-C-D-E.
•	Did you say no to any temptations today? If you did, write down what they were and pray and  tell God, “Thank You for helping me say no.”

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Chapter 15 Fighting Temptation

Temptation is when you really want something, but in order to get it you would have to do something bad.

For example, if you see something in a store that you really want, but in order to have it you would have to steal it, then the desire to steal that thing would be a temptation. 

Or if you want people to listen to you, but in order to make them listen you have to start yelling or getting upset, then the desire to yell would be a temptation.

It’s ok to want things, but it’s never ok to sin in order to get the things you want.

Here are some steps to take to help you fight temptation:

The very first thing you do is say, “No!” as soon as the thought comes into your head. Don’t even wait 2 seconds. If you wait more than 2 seconds, the temptation will be much harder to fight. You might even want to say it out loud – or shout it if you dare: “NO!! I won’t think about that! Jesus died to help me say no to this, so I’m saying no.”

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

Some other things that really help a lot you can remember with the letters A-B-C-D-E.

A stands for Alert and Avoid. 

First, be alert. Being alert means, “Watch out!”

The Bible says that the devil is sneaking around like a lion, and he wants to catch you in a temptation when you’re not ready (1 Peter 5:8). So you have to always be ready.

1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, watch out that you don’t fall!

If you are alert, then when you see temptation coming, you can avoid it. Run! Get out of there. Don’t go near places where you might be tempted.

Proverbs 5:8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house.

B stands for Bible, prayer, and fellowship.

When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He taught us how to fight temptation. And what Jesus did every time was quote Bible verses. 

The Bible tells us the truth about sin. Temptation lies to us about sin. And so when we remember what God said in the Bible, that helps us say no.

Imagine a nice, warm, delicious doughnut. You see the doughnut and you really, really want it. If someone walked up and asked you, “Is there anything I could say right now that would take away your desire for this doughnut and make you not want it anymore?” you might say, “No way!”

So you grab it, and you are just about to take a bite, and right before you put it in your mouth he says, “Oh – by the way – I put some rat poison in that doughnut. If you take a bite, you’ll die.”

Now you don’t want the doughnut anymore! What happened to your desire? It went away when you found out the truth about the doughnut. 

That’s what reading the Bible can do with sin. It can show you that it’s really poison.
All sins are like gross, disgusting, poisonous slime scraped of the bottom of a garbage can. But the devil makes it look like a really yummy treat. The more you read the Bible, the more you can see that it’s gross slime and not a yummy treat.

That’s why it’s so important to memorize Bible verses – so you can remember them when you need them. Most of the time you don’t have a Bible with you when you are tempted.

Another way the Bible helps is by giving you strength. If you go 3 or 4 days without reading your Bible, that’s like going 3 or 4 days without eating any food. You would get really weak. Just like food gives your body strength and energy, so reading your Bible gives your soul strength to say no to sin and do what makes Jesus happy.

Prayer is also important for giving you strength. That’s why when Jesus knew His disciples were going to be tempted He told them, 

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. 

He told them to do two things: Be alert, and pray! Ask God to help you say no.

Fellowship is also important. Going to church and youth group and hanging around Christian friends who love Jesus will give you lots of strength to say no to sin.

For more about reading your Bible, praying, and fellowship, read chapter 2 of this book.

C stands for Change your thoughts.

When your heart wants to say yes to a sin, you need to change that yes to a no. One thing that helps you do that is remembering that God is watching you. He is right there with you!

Job 31:4 Does he not see my ways and count my every step?

The way to stop thinking about something bad is to think about something good instead – like a Bible verse you have memorized.

D stands for Draw near to God.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. 

When you read your Bible, don’t just read it like homework at school. Read it to get close to God. 

While you are reading, pray and say, “God, please come near me in this room while I’m reading.” And then believe that He will do it.

E stands for Enjoy God’s presence.

When God comes near to you, you can tell He is there because He makes you feel things like happiness or comfort or peace. Instead of being all worried or upset, you feel calm.

Psalm 16:11 You fill me with joy in your presence.

Really try to enjoy that when it happens. Keep reminding yourself, “The reason I feel calm or happy right now is because God is right here with me. This is how it feels when God is near.”

The more you enjoy those times, the easier it will be to say no to temptation, because when we sin, that makes God move farther away from us.

Whenever you are tempted, start by saying, “NO!” right away. Then remember…
Alert/Avoid
Bible, prayer, and fellowship
Change your thoughts
Draw near to God
Enjoy God’s presence!