Truth

Today was the first day of Bible School. Let's just say....it was crazy. We had over a 100 kids, which threw us all off guard because there are only 35 campsites registered (plus all the cottages). That's an average of 2 kids per site/cottage! And not all the families camping have kids!

Anyway, our topic for this week is the Belt of Truth and we used an actual pair of pants and a belt as an object lesson. Cutie Delanie wore the pants, which actually used to belong to Taylor Bouman, and if you know Taylor, you know that he is 6'11''. Now imagine his pants on 8-year-old Delanie. We had the kids shout out lies that they had told or that other people had told them, and we wrote them on the pants. Every time we wrote a lie, we would tug on the pants to show that the lies weigh us down. Then we put the kids into groups and had them look up a Bible verse and read it to the group. When they read a verse, we would cross out a lie until all the lies were crossed out on the pants. The whole point was that God's word, the Bible, is the ultimate truth and that's the only thing we need to look to in order to find our worth and importance as Christians.

As the kids shouted out their lies, we tried to steer them away from the "My brother broke it, not me!" and the "I didn't do it!" lies, and more towards the internal lies, such as "You're not important" or "Nobody cares about you." They kind of got the point, but I don't think it really sank in too much because they're kids that just finished 2nd and 3rd grade. It kind of got me thinking about the lies we tell we ourselves and each other, especially beginning around middle school and high school, and even on into adulthood.

Why do we do that? Especially us girls! We tell ourselves that we're ugly, that others are more pretty than we are, that boys will only like us if we behave a certain way, that we need the approval of others in order to be worth anything, that we need to control what we look like or in order to fit an impossible standard, that we aren't smart enough, that we aren't physically and emotionally strong, that asking for help is weak, that our thoughts and opinions aren't as valuable as someone else's, that certain emotions and feelings aren't okay, that we are alone and always will be...the list could go on from here to eternity.

Why do we believe these lies? Most of the time, we know they are lies, but we let them cling to us. They weigh on our hearts, they wear us down, and they ruin our ability to believe in ourselves. Why are we so willing to let ourselves listen to our enemies and not to the people love us?

Our kids discovered 4 truths in their Bibles this morning: John 3:16, Luke 12:7, Ephesians 4:29, and Matthew 28:20b.

 - For God so loved the world that He sent His one and ONLY Son...He must have thought pretty highly of us to think that we were worth saving. He wants to spend eternity with us.

 - Even the hairs of your head are all numbered; not even one can fall without God knowing about it. Think about how closely He must be paying attention to you and taking care of you.

 - Let only words that are helpful for building others up come out of your mouth. Don't perpetuate the lies that others tell you. (this one was huge for our kids because they mentioned a lot of typical lies for grade schoolers instead of the internal lies)

- And surely I am with you always, forever and ever, no matter where you go. I care about you enough to stick with you and never let you go.

I like to think that our kids left with a self-esteem boost and a better understanding of where their self-worth comes from, but in all likelihood, they learned that they shouldn't lie. I guess it's a good start for when they get to middle school youth group in a few years.

You were made to fill a purpose that only you can do. There could never be a more beautiful you.