Student Devo's (March)

Week 1

Devo 1

Your Value

Next time you’re at the bookstore, look through the covers of the magazines. Almost every title, from Rolling Stone to Teen, features a cover image of someone with sculpted abs, clear skin, and perfect hair. Of course, the photographs on magazine covers aren’t reality. Photographers use imaging software to remove anything that would be unflattering—a blemish, a shadow, a soft line. They are able to present an image of perfection.

What messages do you think the media sends about what makes a person valuable?

How do you feel about that message?

What really makes a person valuable?

One of the subtle lies in the media is that beauty, wealth, and power are what make people valuable. Many people buy this lie and spend their lives disappointed because they can never attain what the media presents as valuable.

Read Psalm 139:13-16. How is this picture of the value of a person di erent from the picture often presented in the media?

How and why does God find you valuable?

When you watch a movie, thumb
through a magazine, or flip on
the television, remember that
true value is determined by God.
Don’t judge yourself by the false images in
the media, and don’t judge anyone else by them either.

Devo 2

My Prayer

Father, You said I am “remarkably and wonderfully made.” Don’t let me forget it.

Real Love

Boy meets girl. Boy sleeps with girl. Boy moves in with girl. Boy and girl buy a house. Boy marries girl. It is a messed up version of romance, but you’ve seen it played out again and again in movies, novels, or television shows. Right? The picture of romance presented in the media is

a lie.

Where do you think most students get their ideas about what a romantic relationship should look like?

Is this a problem? Why or why not?

Read Matthew 19:4-6. What is Jesus saying here?

In these verses Jesus was addressing a question about divorce. Instead of giving the kind of answer

My Prayer

Father, I commit all of my relationships to You. Help me to honor You in the way I explore romance.

they expected, Jesus talked about what God intended marriage to be.

Why do you think Jesus emphasized the two becoming “one flesh”?

Jesus was teaching that a man/woman relationship
is about more than warm feelings or a ection. God intended sexual expression to help cement two lives together to begin a new family. Much of our media treats deep things like love and sexuality as if they are recreational. Sex actually has such significance that it should only be shared with someone to whom you are bonded for life.

Watch the media portrayal of romance cautiously. Allow your values concerning romance to be shaped by the Word of God, not by the images of the media.

Devo 3

Who Is God?

Sometimes God is presented as a Santa Claus for adults. If you’re good, He’ll give you what you want. Sometimes God is presented as a disinterested deity who glances into the lives of the people on planet earth with hesitating disinterest. Sometimes God is presented as an impersonal spirit, a force that is present throughout the universe. From news stories to amusement park presentations, the idea of God is debated from many angles.

What pictures of God have you seen in the media recently?

How accurate do you think these portrayals are?

Perhaps it is di cult to understand completely who God is. After all, the same God who rained down fire on the city of Sodom in the Old Testament also allowed His Son to die for the sins of humanity. God is both serious about righteousness and absolutely merciful.God can be hard to wrap your mind around.

Read Colossians 2:8-10. What do you think it means for “the entire fullness of God’s nature” to exist in Jesus?

Many people want to define God in their own terms. The media certainly paint strange pictures of God. But, if you want to truly understand God, look at Jesus. Jesus is the perfect picture of the nature of God.

My Prayer

God, help me to know You as You are.