Daily Devo--PG Sermon Series: They're Not Just Kids

They’re Not Just Kids
Parenting Series, Labor Day 2025

5 Daily Devotions

Day 1 – Don’t Parent Without the Instructions
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:5–6 – “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words…shall be on your heart.”
Devotion:
Parenting is like putting together IKEA furniture without instructions—frustrating, crooked, and leaving you with extra pieces. God has not left us without instructions. His Word is the “manual” for raising children. But too often, we parent by instinct or imitation rather than intentionally following His Word.
Reflection: What area of parenting have I been “winging it” instead of looking to God’s Word?
Prayer: “Lord, help me love You with all my heart so that I can pass that love on to my children.”

Day 2 – Standing When Everyone Else Bows
Scripture: Daniel 3:17–18 – “Our God…is able to deliver us…but even if He does not…we are not going to serve your gods.”
Devotion:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t stand by chance. They stood because conviction had been planted in them as children. Parenting is not about raising compliant kids—it’s about raising courageous kids who can stand when the world bows. Convictions built in childhood will sustain them in crisis.
Reflection: What convictions am I planting in my children’s hearts today that will keep them standing tomorrow?
Prayer: “Father, give me wisdom to teach my children convictions that will last when trials come.”

Day 3 – The Window of Wet Cement
Scripture: Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.”
Devotion:
A child’s heart is like wet cement. When they’re young, you can impress values that will last a lifetime. But as the years pass, the cement hardens. Research and Scripture both agree—there is a window of opportunity. Will we let that window close, or will we strategically impress truth on their hearts while it’s still soft?
Reflection: Am I treating these years as if they are sacred, shaping years in my child’s heart?
Prayer: “Lord, don’t let me waste the window. Help me be faithful to shape my children with Your truth.”

Day 4 – Everyday Moments Matter
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:7 – “You shall teach them diligently…when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Devotion:
Spiritual formation doesn’t just happen in formal devotionals—it happens in the car, at the dinner table, in bedtime prayers, in morning routines. God’s design is that faith becomes part of the natural rhythm of daily life. The little conversations matter more than the one “big talk.”
Reflection: How can I turn an ordinary moment today into a discipleship opportunity?
Prayer: “God, open my eyes to see everyday moments where I can speak Your truth naturally into my children’s lives.”

Day 5 – Marked Inside and Out
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:8–9 – “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand…write them on the doorposts of your house.”
Devotion:
God’s Word should mark every part of family life. Our actions (hands), our thinking (foreheads), our homes (doorposts), and our public witness (gates). Parenting isn’t just about words—it’s about living out faith consistently. Children need to see what obedience looks like in us if they’re ever going to live it out themselves.
Reflection: Do my kids see God’s Word alive in both my private home life and my public witness?
Prayer: “Lord, may Your Word mark my life so deeply that it leaves a lasting mark on my children.”