This morning, I loaded Lydia up to go to school and when we got there, the crossing guard/carpool person pulled us over to tell us that SCHOOL HAD BEEN CANCELLED! Yippppee! A free day with my pretty girl!
The first stop of our free day was to start our newest piece of God’s armor: the breastplate of righteousness. We haven’t had much time this week to sit down and do this together, so I’m so glad we got this day off!
We began by reading a new book, The Armor of God by Dandi Daley Mackall. She’s written some of my favorite books so I was excited to read this one. It’s very similar to the other book I told you about. It highlights all the armor and gives practical kid-friendly examples of how to use it in every day life. Plus, it’s got the entire passage of Ephesians 6 in the book, too.
As the kids colored a picture of the breastplate of righteousness, I read some Scriptures about righteousness. We briefly talked about each one as they colored. I read them in the NIV (1984) and the NIrV. The NIV says “breastplate of righteousness” and the NIrV is a kids’ version so it says “armor of holiness”. I think both versions give a good understanding for kids.
Here’s the verses we read {and a little bit of what we talked about}…
Proverbs 11:5
The ways of honest people are made straight because they do what is right.
But those who do what is wrong are brought down by their own sins. (NIrV)The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. (NIV){Righteousness makes our paths straight. That is a promise!}
Isaiah 58:15-17
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head; (NIV){God sees injustice and puts on his own breastplate of righteousness to make things right! The kids thought this was awesome!}
Isaiah 62:1 & Psalm 37:6
…righteousness shines out like the dawn (NIV)
{both of these verses talk about righteousness shining. I love that description…don’t we want our lights to shine? Righteousness will make us as bright as the sun!}
Jeremiah 23:6
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness. (NIV){Jesus is our Righteousness. We can’t follow the rules on our own. We need Jesus. And He becomes our right-ness with God!}
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right.
They will be filled. (NIrV){We need to want to do what’s right, it’s like we’re hungry and thirsty for doing right!}
Psalm 18:20
The Lord has been good to me because I do what is right.
He has rewarded me because I lead a pure life. (NIrV){Another promise–God rewards us when we do what is right.}
How great does godliness and righteousness sound?! I want some!
To show off our new desire to do what is right, we made a new breastplate of righteousness balloons!
We put our Belt of Truth on first, then I crisscrossed two balloons kinda like suspenders for the breastplate. Not bad, eh? If you don’t have balloons, belts or scarves or scraps of fabric would work just as well.
I’ve got a good craft and a fun memorization scheduled for the breastplate of righteousness, so stay tuned. See you later, I’m off to enjoy our no-school day!
Robbie Prentice says
I love this devotion you have done on the armor of God!! I teach kindergarden, and what great ideas you have to apply for the children to learn about this. Thank you!
Maria P. says
Love this, where can I find the printable you used for this lesson? I tried the link but it only leads me to your Pinterest board on Armor of God.
Thank You!
Maria P.