Go and Do
It’s easy for teens to get the wrong idea that what we care most about in their relationship with God is what they DON’T do: Don’t have sex. Don’t drink. Don’t do drugs. Don’t hang out with the wrong friends. Don’t cut class. Don’t swear. Don’t skip church. Don’t watch that. Don’t listen to that. Don’t laugh at that.
In fact, it’s easy for any of us to fall into measuring our own relationship with God on a negative scale. We’re tempted to think—and to communicate to our kids—that Christianity is really about not blowing it. “He loves you. He’s forgiven you. The least you can do is not screw up!”
This week, we’re encouraging conversations about how our faith can—and must!—motivate us to positive actions for Him. We want to talk to kids about moving past the sit-and-don’t response to God to a joyful go-and-do response for Him.
Many teens become surprisingly active and expressive when given the opportunity to turn faith into real action. That’s what we’re hoping to generate as we talk about the “command cluster” of do’s in Hebrews 13:1-8. Find a minute to read these very short verses and then look for an opportunity to try out a few of the questions below with your son or daughter.
Talking Points:
- Do you think God cares more about what we DON’T do or what we DO when following Jesus? Why do you think we sometimes get confused that being a Christian is all about NOT doing certain things?
- What are some of the things that our faith in Jesus should make us want to get up and go do? [Parent: This might be a good time to read Hebrews 13:1-8 with your child.]
- Do family members love each other differently than friends do? What do you think the Bible means when it tells us to love other Christians like brothers?
- Can you think of a few specific ways you or we have shown brotherly love to other Christians in the last few months? Can you think of any ways other Christians have loved you or us that way?
- What are a few specific things our family could do to give love to other Christians in the next few weeks or months?
- Can you think of any times when our family or our church has “entertained strangers”? What are some ways our family might be able to offer hospitality to people we don’t know?
- Do you know anyone in real life who has ever been in prison? How much do you think it would matter to people in prison to hear about Jesus? How much would it matter for them to know they are loved by God?
- Do you know anything our family could do to help people around the world who are suffering for believing in Jesus? Would you be willing to do a little research and find out how we can help?
- Do you believe in marriage? Is there any way for you to “honor” marriage at this point in your life? [Parent: Following Hebrews 13:4, suggest to your teen that he or she can honor marriage by committing to save all sexual experience for marriage. Think about discussing your teen’s plan, if any, for actively maintaining sexual purity until marriage. Don’t be afraid to share your own experiences, if appropriate.]
- What do you think it means to love money or the things money can buy? Why would loving or living for money be a problem?
- Do you think our society cares too much about money? Do you think our family sometimes cares too much about money in one way or another? What are some things we could do to change that?
- What does it look like for a person to be content with what he or she has?
- Is it possible to live like God is really “enough” for us? Can being satisfied with God’s nearness to us help us to keep from wanting more and more things?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how confident would you say you are on most days that Jesus is with you? Does that confidence in God’s presence with you help you to deal with fear?
- Outside of our family, who would you say have been some of your strongest Christian leaders or role models? What difference did trusting God seem to make in their lives?
- How could we imitate the faith of some strong Christians we know who seem to be really content or joyful or purposeful in following Jesus? What are they going and doing that we could try to do, too?
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