Lego Competition!
Three years ago, we hosted a Lego® competition for a group of college students. They each had twenty minutes to come up with their most innovative creations. We awarded prizes–a Star Wars light saber, salsa and a bag of chips (food is a great motivator!), and a gift card–to the top three winners.
The creations all looked completely different, but each one started with two Legos®.
Take a few minutes and host your own impromptu Lego or building competition, then use the talking points below.
All your Lego® masterpieces are completely different, but each one started when you put the first two Legos® together.
God’s design for family begins when he joins two people together in marriage.*
Jesus said, “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’”
Matthew 19:4-5
Both men and women reflect God (show others who God is) in different ways.
Two people, [Hold up two different colored Legos®.]
one man and one woman,
come together, [Put Legos together and say, “God makes them one.”]
for always.
[Parents, here’s another GREAT HANDS-ON EXAMPLE and explanation of what “two becoming one” means.]
More than a pinky swear
God joins a man and woman into a marriage covenant.
A covenant holds stronger than super glue, a pinky swear, crossing your heart, or Scout’s honor. It’s for always.
Knowing it’s for always can make everyone in the family feel loved, safe, and secure.
How can not having to worry about a covenant breaking make a family feel loved and secure?
Covenant means loving always–even if you’re sick, feeling stressed, or someone has lost a job.
Covenant means sacrificing what you want for someone else.
Covenant means thinking of the other person above yourself.
Covenant means saying you’re sorry to make wrong things right.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:7
When a husband and wife love and respect each other this way, they show others what God is like.
God is a covenant God. He always keeps loving even when others don’t love him back. He’s always hopeful they’ll turn away from what’s wrong and come back to him.
Messed Up
Has anyone ever knocked over or bumped into what you’ve been making or building? How did you feel?
Frustrated, right? You took time to put it together; it’s your design.
That’s how God feels when the marriage design gets messed up. Feelings gets hurt, people get disappointed, and life can get really messy.
Has this ever happened to anyone you know?
BUT
God is love and he has the power to forgive if they ask. He has the power to heal hurting hearts and make them whole again. God shows grace and gives hope.
God’s design isn’t only good,
it’s the absolutely best for everyone.
Who’s a couple who you like watching together? They treat each other well.
What do you think makes their marriage special?
Have you ever thought about asking them what’s their secret?
Parent section
Even if your preschool and elementary kids can’t grasp this now, you can prepare for their questions by understanding the reasoning behind God’s marriage design.
Everything God commands comes out of who he is (see Part 1). Marriage has to do with a whole lot more than a random definition or decision.
Family relationships find their source in God and who he is. There are three unique persons in the Trinity–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a community of sorts. But these three are one God. (Deut. 6:4).
So in God we find unity and uniqueness. Marriage reflects both of these. Divorce grieves God because it violates his nature of unity. Gay marriage grieves God because it doesn’t recognize the uniqueness that both a male and female bring into marriage. Both reflect him in different ways. To mess with the design is to tamper with the reflection of his image.
There are many single family homes today.
Excellent Resources
I know this topic is HUGE and can raise a lot of questions, which I’m happy to answer as best I can.
For two great resources on talking to kids about marriage check out Focus on the Family’s “How to teach your children about marriage” and “How to talk to your kids about homosexuality“.
*I fully recognize there are many single family homes. God can empower and equip single parents too. But it’s still important to show kids how God’s marriage design is good.
2020 © Carol Garborg
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