Introduction

How to use this plan | The Parent prep section will give you context as you prepare to engage your child. The Read together section is meant to be read with your child.

Parent prep | Following Jesus means we adopt His ways and start practicing the things Jesus did. Sometimes His ways can be difficult to communicate to kids because they think in very tangible ways. They learn through their senses. “Can I see it? Can I touch it? Can I smell it? Can I hear it? Can I taste it?” God says Jesus’ sacrifice for us is a good smell. Bring that idea to life by bringing a good smell to your time together. It could be something baked, a sweet-smelling candle or diffuser, cologne or something else.

Read together | What’s your favorite smell? What’s the stinkiest thing you’ve ever smelled? When we smell a good smell, we want to get closer to it. When we smell a stinky smell, we tend to want to move away.

Have you ever had someone copycat you? It’s a game that makes people want to move away. Copy cat is usually a way people annoy people. Like this:

“I’m not. You are.”

“I’m not. You are.”

“No way.”

“No way.”

“Cut it out!”

“Cut it out!”

See? It is usually very annoying… unless you’re copying the right person. God says the ways Jesus was willing to give Himself for us is a good smell to God, so when we copy the habits and the ways of Jesus, it’s not annoying, like a copycat. In fact, Jesus was completely perfect. So, when we copycat Jesus, that smells good to God, too. It’s a life that’s filled with love. It’s a life that follows Jesus’ example.

When we trust Jesus, we are automatically given traits that look like Him. A trait is something about you that makes you YOU. In this series, we’ll look at these traits that look like Jesus: identity, faith, integrity and compassion. Like a character in your favorite video game, you might start out with a lot of one trait and a little of another. That’s okay. We just want you to start paying attention to these power traits. As you walk through life, the Holy Spirit can grow in them as you copy Jesus more and more! And that kind of life smells so good to God