THINK TOGETHER
Do you have a favorite Lego creation? What had to happen for it to be put together?
READ TOGETHER
When we become a Christian God puts inside of us everything that we need to slowly but surely become like Jesus. All his love, all his goodness, all his kindness, all his peace and joy. It’s all inside of you.
But then we spend the rest of our life on earth slowly but surely letting all those good things out. It doesn’t magically happen. We have to let out what God has put in. Here’s how Paul said it to the Philippians:
Philippians 2:12-13. 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Paul tells us to “work out our own salvation.” But that does NOT mean that we save ourselves. We know that we could never, ever save ourselves because we are born as sinners. We must be saved by God and his kindness. And that is what Paul says in the next verse (13) – “God works in you.”
God has already worked salvation INTO us. Now we can work salvation OUT of us.
Now this may sound confusing but it’s important to understand that our salvation is both completely DONE and at the same time it is BEING DONE.
God saved us, and God is saving us.
God worked in us, and we work with God.
God changed us, and we are being changed.
We ARE like Jesus and we are BECOMING like Jesus.
But how? How do we become more like Jesus? How do we “work out our own salvation?”
By trusting that God has already done all the work. We change by trusting that we are already changed. We become more and more like Jesus by believing that we are already connected to Jesus sharing all that is his forever.
We believe that God has already done it all, and then we choose to let all the good things inside of us, the Jesus inside of us, come out for all the world to see.
Because of Jesus God has worked all of our salvation into us.
With Jesus we can work all of our salvation out of us for all the world to see.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Do a puzzle or build with Legos together. Talk about how everything you need to complete the puzzle or the build the Lego design is already in the box. But then you have to “work it out” of the box display it for others to see. This is how our salvation is too – God has given us all we need (love, kindness, compassion), and then we can put it all together so that others see Jesus in us.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
I have all I need inside of me because of what you did for me on the cross. Help me to let you be seen through my life today and every day.
Amen.
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