FHE: "Dressing Up in the Armor of God"

Jake talked to my hubby and I the other night about primary being like a "army training center, except not for real war, but for the battle against satan." I liked the idea of this and decided it would be really fun to do an "Armor of God" Lesson, based on this scripture:

EPHESIANS 6:10-13

 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

To keep things interesting for the kiddos I decided we would do the ole "fishing" game with this lesson. I ran to the hardware store, bought a dowel and a good magnet. I tied some string the end of the dowel and through the hole in the magnet and VIOLA! Fishing Pole!

Since we are on our crazy adventure in our RV still, I just flipped the table up to make a wall for the kids to fish over.

Each piece of armor has a couple of paperclips attached, so the magnet can pick it up. On the back of each there is a scripture reference. After the kids would "catch" a picture, we would find the scripture, read and then quickly discuss, before moving to the next piece.

I only have 2 kids to play, so I only did the armor. You can print pictures that correspond to the "Our Daily Armor" scriptures and print the reference on the back. We finished with the fishing game and then discussed the things we could do, with the scriptures.

I found all of these pictures by googling "Medieval Shield", "Medieval Breast Plate", etc. I right clicked on the picture, saved, printed, then enlarged them on my copy machine.

 

(These are the scripture references we used. Feel free to change any of them, if you would like.)

BREAST PLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: 2 Cor. 6:7

FEET SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE: Mosiah 12:21

SHEILD OF FAITH: 2 Cor. 5:7

HELMET OF SALVATION: Omni 1:26

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT (which is the word of God): Hebrews 4:12 



In the July 2004 Ensign in an article called "Be Strong in the Lord" by M. Russell Ballard. He said:

"Long ago, when soldiers went into battle, they dressed in metal armor to protect themselves. They wore helmets and breastplates, and they carried swords and shields to protect themselves from the swords and arrows of their enemies.

Today in the battle against evil, we can protect ourselves by wearing a different kind of armor. It is called the armor of God. Such armor is what we call spiritual strength. It helps us to withstand temptation and unclean things. If we clothe ourselves with spiritual strength, we can know true peace and be an example of one who puts on the whole armor of God."

"Putting On Our Daily Armor"

(as named in the article mentioned above)

PRAYER: Doctrine & Covenants 10:5

SCRIPTURES: 1 Nephi 15:24

DRAW ON THE MERCIFUL GRACE OF GOD: Ether 12:27

WATCH OURSELVES: Mosiah 4:30

DON'T WAST THE DAYS OF YOUR PROBATION: 2 Nephi 9:27, Doctrine & Covenants 60:13

REVERENCE INVITES REVELATION: 3 Nephi 14:7-8

We discussed the importance of making these things habits in our lives. Among other things (i.e. service, kindness, obedience to parents, etc.) That's when I pulled out the

 "DRESSING UP IN THE ARMOR OF GOD" Jar!

I bought some bright fun colored buttons and a cute little jare. Each button represents something we do to secure our armor, as a family and individually.

I am telling you, this is the best thing EVER! We never discussed insentive for a full jar. Just that everyone in the family gets a button each for the jar after participating in FHE, Family Prayer, Family Scriptures, etc. Then individually, if the kids say their prayers on their own, they get 2 buttons. Same for individual scriptures (Living Scripture Videos count for Mallory).

The best part....Mallory was a TUR-KEY when it came to bedtime, before the buttons. Now she scoots off to bed and we remind her that if she is obedient and stays in her bed, she will get TWO buttons in the morning! Works without fail! EVERYTIME!

The insentive is simply filling the jar. They LOVE it! I love that it is a tangible way to keep us focused on developing and keeping good habits as a family AND individually!