Day 8 – Speak truthfully to one another
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Lord, give us today
The wisdom to do what is right.
In any situation we find ourselves,
We ask You to give us the wisdom
to make the best choices about what we do or say.
(Silence)
Let your will be done.
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Torch
We pray for police members, security staff, and the army, who ensure that we are protected in our communities.
We give thanks for those persons who are willing to risk danger, so that other citizens may feel safe.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body – Ephesians 4:25.
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices – Colossians 3:9.
There are few things so destructive in relationships as lies. It causes conflict and undermines trust between believers. When everyone is telling lies to one another it is impossible to maintain healthy relationships. In most cases it only takes one lie to destroy a friendship that has lasted for years.
Paul says as God’s family we should always speak truthfully to one another, for together we form the body of Christ. When you lie to someone, you do not only hurt the one you are lying to, but eventually also yourself. For what is absorbed by the stomach and flows through the body, influences the whole body and eventually also the stomach again as part of the body.
The truth can unfortunately also be abused to tear one another down, rather than to build each other up. That is why Paul makes it very clear that the truth should always be spoken in a loving way. He writes in Ephesians 4:15, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” Our motive to share something with others should always be to build them up in love, and not to tear them down.
Lord, teach us to love the truth and to always speak the truth to one another in love. Amen.
Isaac’s Soap Opera
Watch this video with your children
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
Honest handwashing?
How do you feel when you discover someone has lied to you? Can you describe how you feel when you have lied to someone else? When people are not truthful towards one another, relationships are hurt. The result is that people do not trust one another anymore. Trust is stolen.
We easily say that the truth will set us free. When you weren’t truthful with someone, it can heal the relationship to tell the truth. To tell the truth prevents distrust and suspicion from entering our relationships. If we can use a relevant metaphor: When we do not tell the truth, it can spread distrust like a bug or a virus that can cause relationships to become unhealthy. To speak the truth and to admit when we were untruthful is like washing our hands. At the moment we are washing our hands so many times because we are aware of a virus that can easily be transmitted when touching our faces after touching an infected surface.
Everytime when we wash our hands in our homes, we can remind ourselves that the truth can help us to keep our relationships healthy. Let’s lay down the falsehood that can cause our relationships in our homes (and with other people) to become unhealthy. Get rid of the lies every time you wash your hands!
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
———————————
Have you ever thrown a pebble into water and saw how the water formed circles around the spot where the pebble hit the water? This is called a ripple effect. Many things in life work with this ripple effect. You do one thing, but that one thing causes many other things to happen. Paul says we as God’s family should speak the truth to one another because together we are Christ’s body. When we tell a lie, it is not only bad for the person to whom we lie, but eventually also for ourselves. Our lies have a ripple effect.
Throw a pebble into a bowl of water and see how the ripple effect looks. What does ripple effect mean?
Why do lies have a ripple effect?
Activity
Pick up some pebbles in your garden and decorate it. Write the words, “I stand up for the truth” on the pebbles and put it somewhere where you will see it everyday.
Play the game “Two truths and a lie”. It works like this: Everyone gets a turn to speak. When it is your turn, you have to say three things of which two are true and one is not true. The rest of the group must guess which one is not true.
Creative prayer
Colour and reflect (Instructions are available under the picture)
INSTRUCTIONS
• Choose your art materials such as coloured pencils, coloured pens and koki pens. Any of these will work.
• Colour in the picture and do the activity.
TIPS
• Choose no more than five colours. If you’re unsure of which colours to use, take out all the colours and put them on the table. Close your eyes and pick up five.
• It may be easier for you to first start colouring the edges and not big blank spaces.
• Don’t stop halfway, especially if your reason for stopping is that you think your picture isn’t pretty. This is the purpose of the activity – to get your attention away from unnecessary thoughts like, “Am I doing this right?” and to focus on the people that you love.
• When you’ve finished colouring the picture, put the picture in a prominent place in your house, like your bedroom or in the kitchen.
Consider sharing your picture on social media with the hashtags #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
Thank you’s and testimonies
Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.
Thank you very much for the message! We are looking forward to the next activity!
– Hannelie Keogh
My son and I do the devotion every day and enjoy it a lot. He especially likes Isaac’s Soap Opera. We are thankful for God’s protection and care for us.
– Hanneke Botha
Thank you for the wonderful countdown calendar. My parents are elderly and my father has a slight hearing problem. When I am still in bed in the mornings, he comes to wake me up because he cannot wait for the day’s message. Our relationship with each other and with God becomes stronger daily. We realise the value of silence, as well as of being together. It would be great if these messages could become something permanent. The Lord bless you.
– Yvonne Kotze