In his letter to the Philippians, Paul longs for the church at Philippi to live righteous lives. He calls them (and us) to this through the examples of Jesus, who lived as a servant and was obedient to death on a cross. If Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords can willingly submit to the will of the Father, suffer and die for our sins, then we can surely seek to walk in obedience to God and his commands.

After showing us the example of Christ, Paul then calls the Philippians and us to also live obedient lives through the power of God who wills and works within us. Then he gets practical. Paul gives us a way we can start working out our obedience here and now. He tells us to do everything without grumbling or arguing. Ouch. He said everything. Not some things. Not the things you like to do. Not when you’re happy and feeling good. He tells us to do everything without grumbling or arguing (Philippians 2:14).

When we do this, Paul says we will become blameless and pure, without fault in a warped generation. Please know, blameless doesn’t mean perfect. Try to make it one day without grumbling or arguing and you’ll realize perfect is impossible. Not perfect but growing. We are called to look more and more like Jesus every day we live for him. And when we do, when we look more like him, when we stop grumbling and arguing, guess what? We stand out. We shine like stars as we hold onto the word of life.

Wouldn’t you notice if someone never grumbled or complained? Wouldn’t you wonder why they never join in when everyone starts to complain about a homework assignment or chore or drill at practice? I would. And I bet others would, too. This then opens up a chance to share your hope and belief in Jesus with them when they wonder why you never complain or argue, and then you shine even more for God’s glory. Let’s do an experiment to check this out.

Experiment

What you’ll need:

• Water
• 2 highlighters, one fluorescent (I used Bic), one not (I used Sharpie)
• 3 cups of water
• UV black light flashlight

What you’ll do:

• Fill the three cups with water. Remove the back from your highlighters and drop each in a different cup (seen above with one highlighter).
• After the water changes color, you can choose to remove the highlighters or leave them in.
• In the dark, take your black light flashlight and check out your samples!
• Why do you think one highlighter glows and the other doesn’t?

What’s the Science?

• The fluorescent highlighter water glows when exposed to UV light because it contains phosphors. The other style of highlighter does not. The light “excites” the phosphors causing them to glow. Fun fact: your teeth and nails contain phosphors, too! Check them out with your black light.

How can it apply to my life?

We can’t glow on our own. We can’t even glow if we try really hard to do all the right things (like the orange highlighter in my pictures). What we need is God’s Spirit at work within us, filling us, guiding us, teaching us, and helping us to look more like him. When we are filled with the Spirit, he can help us not to grumble and convict us when we do. Then, as we walk more and more in obedience to God and his Word, we can’t help but shine like stars.

Dig Deeper

For a children’s commentary that goes section by section explaining the book of Philippians, check out my free Kid’s Companion here: Blazing Stars. Other Kid’s Companions are found here.

For the free lesson plan library that offers STEAM activities through the books of Matthew, Ezekiel, and some of John, click here. Keep checking back, because it’s always building!

To help you teach the foundations of faith to your kids, check out these videos.