Children’s Devo Idea: The Image of God

Last Sunday evening, we were blessed to have the 9th Avenue K-6 kids over to our house for a devotional. I got a couple of ideas for a devotional and took what I hope was the best of them to put together the lesson for the kids. I’d like to share it with you for a devotional idea, or something you may want to do in your family Bible time.

For this devotional, you will need:

2 mirrors (one large and one handheld)

A picture of a famous person

A sheet of thick paper

The basic idea behind this devotional is that you are trying to help the children see that they can “reflect” the image of God wherever they are. Here’s what you do:

STEP 1: Hold up a picture of a very famous person. For our devotional, I chose a picture of George Washington. Ask who the person is. You may even want to play this up a little (for example, if you pick a famous athlete, you may want to ask what the kids know about that athlete).

STEP 2: Ask this question: “Is this actually George Washington?” (or whoever the picture is of). Of course, it is not. It is just a picture of that person. Build into the children the concept that what they are seeing is not actually the person, but an image of that person.

STEP 3: Read or quote Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Talk about what it means to be created in the image of God. In our devotional, we talked about how that means we have a soul, but also how that gives us the responsibility to be as much like God as possible. We need to have the same love, kindness, and so forth as God would have, since we bear His image.

STEP 4: Have a child sit or stand facing the large mirror and put another child behind him/her facing the other way (so the kids are basically back-to-back). Talk about how the one who is not facing the large mirror cannot see the other child, just like people will not see God without our help.

STEP 5: Hold up the handheld mirror for the child facing away from the large mirror (in the same way you might use two mirrors to check the back of your hair), but do so in THREE ways:

First, hold the handheld mirror backward, where there is no way they could see the other mirror. Ask, “Can you see him/her?” Of course, they can’t! Talk about how that is what it is like when we live sinful lives. People will never see God through us if we don’t hold up our mirror toward God.

Second, hold up the mirror the right way, but with a piece of paper over it. Ask again, “Can you see him/her now?” Again, of course, they can’t. We used this to talk about how we put things that are good (like sports or video games) above God, and it blocks our ability to shine for God as the major focus of our lives.

Finally, of course, hold up the mirror the right way and get the angle right where the child can see the other. Talk about how others need to see God through us.

STEP 6: Simply review the two major things you have talked about: (1) Each person is made in the image of God, and (2) we should not let anything get in the way of letting others see God through our lives.

I hope this helps you with an idea, and I hope your kids never see a mirror the same way again!

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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn