Teaching My Family: John 1

Another week means new “Family Scripture Study” topics. The reading assignment for January 20 – 27 is John 1. It may be only one chapter, but there are tons of things you can pull from it to help your family. Following are just a couple that I will be discussing with my family over the course of the upcoming week.

The first thing that really stuck out to me in this chapter was the amazing perspective and humility of John the Baptist. He had given his life to preparing for the coming of Christ, and had collected quite a group of followers. Were I in his shoes, I think it would be so easy to claim these followers as my own. John, though, has a clear understanding of his role in Heavenly Father’s plan. He said:

A few verses later, John sends his disciples away, that they may follow Jesus. Now, I don’t know how many followers John had, but it had to be quite a few since he will eventually be arrested and taken to prison because of his teachings. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to people who have no influence! It doesn’t appear, however, that John was concerned about losing his popularity to Christ.

This mentality is SO foreign to the world we live in! Most people are more concerned with how many social media followers they have than they are about the quality of their individual relationships. We tend to care more about what other people think of us than we should. I firmly believe that we were each sent to this earth with a specific purpose. Think about it, you are the only “you” that there has ever been. Of all the billions of people that have lived, and will yet live on this earth, you are unique. I don’t think that’s an accident! You were sent to earth at this time and place for a reason. Do you know what that reason is?

Once we come to an understanding of our purpose in life, it becomes much easier to tune out the voices of the world around us. So . . . how do we figure out what our purpose might be? A good place to start would be with thinking about things you are good at. Things you enjoy. How can your talents bless the lives of the people around you? If you can’t think of anything, ask your friends and family. Often the people in our lives can see us more clearly than we see ourselves. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a talent, because our talents often come easily to us. You may think the fact that you can do something is no big deal, because it’s just natural for you. It may take talking to someone who struggles with that quality or skill for you to recognize the abilities you have.

John the Baptist’s example tells me that my sense of satisfaction and joy in life will come from knowing the purpose for my life, and living accordingly. Popularity, by itself, will not bring happiness. This is SO important to understand! Again, popularity, by itself, will not bring happiness. This is one lesson I hope to teach my kids with this chapter.

To assist in this endeavor, I created a little printable with a quote from the Old Testament:

In addition to this scripture, I’ve included spaces to write down some things you can learn from John the Baptist in this chapter. With my family, I’m going to focus on helping my kids recognize the many amazing qualities they hold in their hearts. These are the things that will help them fulfill their purpose in life. These are the things that will make them happy.

If you’re interested in using this idea with your family, I’m attaching some printables for you. You may print as many as you like, free of charge, and are welcome to share with anyone and everyone you know. If you do choose to use my work, though, I would appreciate your giving credit to this little blog of mine.

I kind of have a thing for light. I love light. I love what it stands for, and what it can do. I love that it can be used to describe so many good things, from knowledge to happiness to relief and so much more. One of my favorite things about light, though, is that it is used as a name for Jesus Christ. Truly, He is the source of all good things.

In discussing these verses with my family, we will talk about what light is and why Christ is called The Light of the World. In addition, we will discuss ways we can share Christ’s light with the world around us. This world can be such a dark place! My hope with this discussion is to help my kids recognize the amazing potential they have to be an influence for good. You don’t have to do anything earth-shattering to make a difference. I have a little lighthouse printable for them to glue into their journals. With it, there is space for them to write down a few simple things they can do to share the Light of Christ with the people around them.

If you’re interested in using this activity with your family, I’m attaching some printables for you. You may print as many as you like, free of charge, and are welcome to share with anyone and everyone you know. If you do choose to use my work, though, I would appreciate your giving credit to this little blog of mine.