JESUS’ Teaching About Loyalty to God WEEK A - 8

MATTHEW 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

1. UNDERSTAND IT!

2, EXPLORE IT!

Master

A person whom one serves.

Mammon

Material wealth or possessions.

Father

God the Father.

Pagans

People who do not worship God but instead worships many things.

Jesus taught us that the only thing we need to do is to trust in God, our true Master, and everything we need will be provided to us. He talked about how even animals, who do not look for material things, yet are still provided for so we should know that God will surely provide for us, His beloved children. He wanted us to see that pagans looked for many things like material wealth, but we as Christians need to have faith in God because He is all that we need.

3. CONNECT IT! Jesus told us not to worry about things like food, water, or clothing because God will provide all. It does not mean that we should not eat, drink, or clothed ourselves. What He means to say is that do not think about these things so much that you forget about God. Sometimes people will worry too much about money, what clothes to wear that makes them look good, or how popular they can be in school that they forget about God. These things cannot let you live longer or add time to your life, but instead takes time from it. In looking for material things, you are now serving another master because God is no longer the center of your life.

4. LIVE IT! [ LOYALTY ]

5. REMEMBER IT!

To be loyal means to always be supportive and loving of someone. In today’s Gospel ,we talked about being loyal to God and His teachings by ignoring the distractions like material wealth.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33)

You can practice being loyal to God by first helping your parents and supporting them. They have worked very hard to give you what you need like clothes, food, and a place to live so you can just focus on learning about God’s love. Start small with things like helping around the house and then work up to not asking for things you do not need. For example, do you need to have the newest toys or phones? Or do you just want them because someone else has it?

6. PRAY IT!

Dear God, thank you for everything You have done for us. Please help our parents as they care for us. Help us to always remain loyal to them and to you as Jesus has taught us. Amen

My child has completed the corresponding virtue for this week ____________________________ Parent signature