Backseat Bible Nuggets

June 01, 2022

Ep. 6 : Sanctification

Raise your hand if you want to be tall when you grow up? I think every kid I know cares a lot about their height. I know we do at our house! I bet you can tell me who is the tallest in your class or group of friends and I bet you can tell me who is the shortest. And have you noticed how adults so often make comments about how they just can’t believe how much you’ve grown?

 

As a kid it’s important to get the right amount of sleep and eat the right healthy foods in order to grow. Have your parents ever told you that? It’s true!

 

Well, just as you will get bigger and taller as you grow up, you can also GROW as a Christian as you get to know and follow Jesus. There’s a fancy word for this called sanctification. Can you say that? Sanctification. PAUSE. Good!

 

This complicated word just means that as we get to know Jesus better through reading about Him in the Bible or singing songs to Him or talking about Him with other people then we grow to become more and more like Him. Have you ever hung out with someone for a while and then you realize that you start saying some of the same things they say? Or maybe you start acting the way they act?

 

Same things happens when we hang out with the Lord. We start to think the way He thinks and we start to say the things He said. This is sanctification.

 

And it doesn’t happen over night! It takes years and years, just like it takes years for us to grow as a kid. It’s a process. And just as healthy food and good exercise and sleep can help you grow taller, in the same way, lots of time reading the Bible, praying and talking with other people about Jesus helps us become more like Him. It helps sanctify us!

 

So, that’s sanctification. The growing over your lifetime to become more like Jesus. Hard to say word – but pretty basic thing to understand, right?

 

The Bible has a lot to say about sanctification and we see that growing process played out in the lives of all people in the Bible. But, for today, I chose just one verse. 1 Thessalonians 5:23a says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.”

Here are some questions to talk about. You can pause after each question and discuss. Oh, and there’s no wrong answer to these. So don’t overthink it!

 

  1. What was that word that we talked about today that is a fancy word for growing to become more and more like Jesus over time?
  2. How do we know if we are growing to be more like Jesus? It’s not someone that we can measure on a growth chart, like our height, so how do we know if we’re growing more like Jesus?
  3. What are some things that you can do today to help you grow to be more like Jesus?

 

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely” 1 Thessalonians 5:23a.

*Music: “Forest” by Vlad Gulschenko

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About Backseat Bible Nuggets

Podcast devotionals for Kids. Full of God’s Word. For families on the go.

Follow Backseat Bible Nuggets on Facebook, keep up with them on Instagram and TikTok and learn more at backseatbiblenuggets.com.

About Laura Young

Laura, creator of Backseat Bible Nuggets, is an on-the-go mom of 2 kiddos and desires to see them mature into mighty warriors for the Lord. She and her husband are usually too busy in the morning and too tired at night to have family devotional time. Can I get an amen? Plus, it’s easiest to capture kid’s attention when they are buckled up riding in the car. So why not maximize our transit time and talk about Jesus? Here we go!

Laura grew up in a christian family that took her to church at every opportunity. She was baptized at 8 years old but it was in middle school that she began to fully understand the full weight of sin and all that Jesus has saved her from when He died on the cross. The Lord continued to refine her through high school and college. It was at JH Ranch that she came to understand the fulfilling adventure of walking in the Holy Spirit as she embraced living in an active daily relationship with the Lord. When she graduated with an engineering degree and an MBA, she worked in healthcare doing process improvement. This pushed her out in front of crowds (where she never planned to be!) but laid the groundwork for what God was doing in her life. It was a few years later that the Lord would call her in to Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) leadership, where she serves as a Teaching Leader. She has come to learn that walking with the Lord is the most fulfilling adventure and while there are plenty of things that she desires for her children, above all else she knows that nothing is more important than teaching her kiddos about their sweet and powerful Savior.

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