DIY Children's Devotions - Wants vs. Needs

Study after study have shown that parents are the primary faith influencer in a child's life.  So, at this time of social distancing, we are putting a lot of content on our Youtube channel to help disciple your child, but we also realize that the most important things we can offer is resources and tools for you to do your own devotional with your children.  So, from time to time we will be putting up DIY Children's devotions that you can lead using everyday average household items.  Don't miss this opportunity to speak into your child's life, because with all our technology, games and antics, you will still have the most profound impact on your child's faith formation.  

If you have these items, use the actual items, but if you do not have them, simply print pictures off the internet.  Don’t buy them, or it kind of defeats the entire point of the devotion.

Put a bottle of water on the table next to your child’s favorite soft drink or sports drink.  Ask your child, "if you were very thirsty and had to have something to drink, which one of these would you want?"  Then ask your child, "okay, but which one of these do you need?"  Explain to them that soft drinks and sports drinks are good, but the reality is they are expensive and the only thing we really need is water.  People survived off of water for years before sports drinks or soft drinks were ever made. 

You know about 40% of the world does not have access to clean drinking water.  While we are wanting a big ole soda, Gatorade or Icee, they are just wanting a sip of clean water to help their thirst. 

We often get wants and needs confused.  Needs are what we have to have to survive.  Wants are what we think we need to survive, but they are things we really don't have to have.  You need water to survive, but sometimes we want a Dr. Pepper.  You need clothes, but you want Forever 21 jeans and a Justice Top.  You need shelter, but you want your own room with an Xbox, iPad and a TV.  You need food to survive, but you want a Big Mac combo supersized with a shamrock shake.  

See, there is a huge difference between wants and needs and the Bible says in Matthew 6

(read Matthew 6:24-34 with them) that God loves us so much that he promises to meet our every need, but he says nothing about meeting our every want.  God will make sure we always have enough, but what we need is usually a lot less than what we want, so we have to be careful to always be grateful and appreciative for what we have.  Yes, we may have wanted a fancy meal with ice cream, but we need to say the blessing and thank God any time we get food to eat, because there are billions that go hungry every day and would love to have what we have. 

Be careful next time you are in a store and you see something cool and you say, “I need this.”  Step back and ask yourself, “Do you really need it?”  And if the answer is no, its just a want, then maybe you do not need it and you just need to be more appreciative of what you have.  

Also, consider sponsoring a child through World Vision or another organization to help your child better needs and wants and how sacrificing just a little can help somebody else a great deal.