Monday Family Devotion 1

This is a family devotion for younger children. The purpose of these Monday Family Devotion posts is to give you examples of what you could do with your children. I will endeavour to post devotions for different ages, you can then adapt them to something your children can enjoy.

Melanie

Selfishness

Selfish behaviour hurts everyone.

Look not only to your own interests. - Philippians 2:4

Selfishness Satisfies No One

The pancakes smelled wonderful! They were Sarah's favourite kind - cinnamon, nutmeg and oh, so sweet. She couldn't wait to eat some. She stood in front of the stove where her mum stood cooking and wondered how long it would be until they were done. Sarah's cousin Steven was anxiously waiting for pancakes too. They werre especially excited because eating was one of their favourite things to do together.

Finally the long wait was over and Mum placed a big plate of pancakes onthe table. Sarah took one, but when Steven reached for one also, Sarah pulled the plate away and said 'They're Mine!'. She didn't want to share. Sarah selfishly kept all of the pancakes for herself, so Steven left the table and went off by himself to play. Sarah happily bit into a pancake...but the pancakes didn't taste so sweet today. She looked sadly across the table at where Steven usually sat and wondered where he was. Eating special, spice pancakes wasn't nearly as much fun without Steven.

Have you ever been selfish about something only to learn that being selfish has spoiled your fun? Being selfish doesn't get you more - it gets you less. When you are selfish you don't only cheat others out of something, you also cheat yourself.

Jesus doesn't want you to be selfish. He wants you to be loving and kind, sharing what you have and who you are with others, just as He shared Himself with the world.

YOUR TURN

1. Can you rememberr a time when you were selfish?

2. Why do you think people do selfish things?

3. Does Jesus like it when you are selfish?

PRAYER TIME

Help me, Jesus to rememver that selfishness hurts everyone. Thank You for teaching me how to be kind and helpful to others. Amen.

Pancakes to Share

Read this to your child: "Jesus shared Himself with everyone. He wants you to share all that you have with others. Here are some pancakes that are so good you will want to share them." Children love to cook and it's so educational too. Here's a pancake recipe that's sure to please. There pancakes are also sweet enough that the kids won't need syrup on them, so you won't have to contend with that sticky goo all over you table, theri hair, clothes etc.

Mama's Spice Pancakes

2 eggs

 2 C flour

1 C milk

4 T vegetable oil

6 t baking powder

1 t salt

3 T sugar

1 C applesauce

pinch ginger

1 t cinnamon

1.2 t ground cloves

1/4 t ground nutmeg

Mis all ingredients together. Use a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Flip the pancakes when first side begins to look bubbly. Serve hot. Feeds four starving children under the age of 6!