Family Devotional Idea #1

Hey everyone.

I had this idea for a family devotional that I wanted to share with you.  I got the idea while I was reading Good Enough Parenting by John and Karen Louis.  It comes from Luke 18:9-14, which the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. 

We looked at this passage recently in a family devotion that I called Acting 101.  We took turns acting out the two parts and trying to deliver the lines in the way that we thought each man may have said them.  First, we took turns acting our the Pharisees prayer.  Then we talked about his motivation, and what the prayer showed about the man and his heart.  After that we took turns trying to present the Tax Collector and say his one line, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner," with heartfelt emotion.  I even beat my chest in anguish just like the tax collector in the story.  (But even with all my heartfelt sincerity, Wendy and the boys laughed my over-the-top acting.) We also talked about his motivation and what his prayer said about him.  Then we had a good conversation comparing the two men.  We decided that the tax collector was humble, while that pharisee was full of pride.  Then we compared the qualities of humility and pride.  We then talked about how pride and humility can manifest itself in our behavior.  It was a really good conversation.  Together we were able to determine some things: 

• Wendy is the best actor in the family.     
• Aaron always speaks with a British accent when he is acting.
• God is pleased with humility and not so pleased with pride.
• Humility is always better than pride.
• We all prefer to be treated with humility.

It was a really good devotional.  Feel free to use it if you like.  I think the idea could be tweaked a little to make a good teen Bible talk.  Any way, the Hugheses had a good time with it.

Tom