Good morning, Five Minute Families. As we discussed what our new topic would be for this week, we realized that there is more to discuss about remembering. Any good story, report, or project will go through necessary problem solving or information gathering, and the best way to do that is to cover the 5 w’s and 1 h who, what, when, where, why, and how.

The who to remember is clear – God. The what to remember is His word and truth – five of which we mentioned last week. The how to remember as a family we discussed two weeks ago and that devotional included some of the when and where as well. SO, what about the why… why remember?

First, let’s look at a quick definition of the word remember: “to bring an image or idea from the past into the mind.”  Adults and children learn AND remember differently. Each person in the family may remember an event differently – depending on age, emotions, perspective and more. Families need to speak about the impact of family memories as well as individual memories of experienced family events. And, reality is that children will sometimes generate false memories in the learning process.

For example, when we first moved to a new state, our son had a difficult time making friends. He was in-between two age-group sets. That, combined with his very active imagination, made me think he was beginning to lie to people about his life in our previous home. Thankfully, however, I realized that his emotions and perception of events were causing him to mis-remember what had actually occurred. He wasn’t lying; he truly believed everything he was saying. This isn’t all that unusual actually. One article I read mentioned how one twin will often remember an event as happening to them instead of to their twin.

Memories are not a set of digital images able to replay accurately at any moment. Facts, imagined details, and interpretations will influence what a person remembers. So, what does remembering differently or inaccurately have to do with WHY we should remember things about God? Parents often do not realize that they themselves may be carrying around distorted memories of events, events that may have greatly impacted their view of God.

As a child, the churches my family attended always had tithes and offerings taken up immediately after Lord’s Supper. The only thing is… I was 18 before I realized that the offering was SEPARATE from the Lord’s Supper. Obviously, I should have, but because they were always tied together, and there was never anything said about the money part being separate, I never really thought about it. When I attended a church near my college, the deacon said, “While not a part of the Lord’s Supper, we have found this to be the best time in the order of service, so we will now take up any tithes and offerings.” This small memory and then the coupling with God’s truth changed greatly my perspective about how God felt about money. My brain had falsely tied monetary giving back to Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross.  I know, odd, but a child’s mind does not process properly. Had I not had an event to help correct this false thinking, I am not sure what other false beliefs about God I might have held.

Children should not be left on their own to interpret and understand everything. If parents do not take time to discuss what their children think about a Bible story, what it means and more, then a child may misunderstand, and by trying to make sense of the story, they are left with false beliefs about God or even false memories about how open or closed communication was in their family home.

Throughout the Bible we read that God implored His people to: “Watch yourselves that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord” Deuteronomy 4:9.

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God and there is no other” Isaiah 46:9.

“Do this in remembrance of Me” 1 Corinthians 11:24.

“Remember the word that I said to you” John 15:20.

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to the gospel” 2 Timothy 2:8.

Remember, five minute families, an adult does not recall memories as a child does. While pattern-recognition process helps kids learn quickly as they grow and adults draw more on specific details to reconstruct a scene, we all still need to return to God’s word, remembering God. Parents and children need to remember together the truth of God’s word – to make sense of history, to better process present circumstances, and to gain knowledge for the future. The WHY of remembering is simple… it is necessary for an accurate knowledge of God, His kingdom, and our places in it. Thank you for joining us today. Be blessed!