Raising Biblical Superheroes {Ephesians 6}: The Sword of the Spirit

My friend Courtney (who blogs for our Hope for the Home series) posted a brilliant idea on her blog Lil Light O' Mine  a few weeks ago.You can read about it here.

It was basically saying that we can use the Ephesians 6 passage (The Armor of God) to make our little men into "warriors" for God, incorporating it while we play superheroes with them.

Um...LOVE! Hello, I have 2 boys who are CRAZY about all things superheroes. Off the top of my head, I know that we own the following costumes...Spiderman, Captain America, Ironman, The Hulk, Wolverine, and Bumblebee Transformer, to name a few. Not to mention we own our fair share of swords, shields, masks, capes, etc.

With this in mind, I decided to start "Superhero Saturdays" in our home. Basically, every Saturday in October (and maybe longer, not going to put a limit on how long they want to do this) we are going to dress up like and play superheroes, while discussing what the Bible has to say about being a "Biblical Superhero," ready for battle against the devil and his schemes!

I thought it would be fun if we included some sort of superhero craft or recipe as well, to reinforce the lesson for the day.

That said, every Saturday during October, I will post what we did right here on the blog, so that you can follow along if you want! If you can't do Saturdays, no worries. Simply choose a day and time that works for you.

Feel free to use my ideas or come up with your own. I would love for you to post your pictures and ideas onto our Facebook page or simply leave a comment here, with the link to your blog post. I will feature them here the following Saturday. I would also love for you to share your ideas and pictures on  Twitter using the hash tag #biblicalsuperheroes. I will feature them here as well. We may even have a fun giveaway along the way. :)

Will you fight with us?

We started with the sword, for no other reason than I had the supplies needed to make them. :)

Here is exactly what we did...

1. Dress up like superheroes, using anything they could find from the costume bins in their playroom or around the house

2. Make the swords, using the following steps:

First, I used scissors to cut strips of cardboard from boxes (that we no longer needed) in the garage, leftover from our recent move. I'm sure poster board, foam board or card stock would work too.

Second, I drew a sword onto the cardboard strips, using a pencil. I free handed it while looking at a picture of a sword. One, because I did not care if it was perfect and two, because I was too lazy to print a pattern. But you can use a pattern if you would rather.

Third, I cut out the swords using scissors.

Fourth, I set out the supplies...markers, foil, stickers and stamps. You could really use anything you wanted...fabric, crayons, glitter, buttons, etc. I just used what I had on hand in our craft cabinet.

Fifth, I called the boys up to get to started and had them color their handles. I helped them wrap the blade in foil and then they decorated their swords with stickers and stamps.

Last, we discussed Ephesians 6:17, which says that we need to take up the "Sword of the Spirit," the word of God. We talked about the fact that we need to read our Bibles daily and memorize scripture, so that we are ready to stand against the devil's schemes and the lies the world tells us.

Specifically, we talked about examples of things that the world says are true, that differ from what the Bible says. For example, the world says that we have to dress, look and act a certain way to be accepted but the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7, "The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

We ended the day playing "superhero wars" with Daddy...you know the whole fighting, wrestling, boy thing that takes place daily in my house. This time using their new swords. :)

Let us know if you have "Superhero Day" at your house and check back next Saturday for more "Biblical Superhero" ideas!

Here are the other posts in the series so far:

The Helmet of Salvation and The Shield of Faith
The Gospel of Peace..with giveaway!
The Belt of Truth and The Breastplate of Righteousness...and a winner!

Happy Saturday, friends! :)

About the Author: Erin Vick Franklin is the founder and director of Worthy of the Prize. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization. Erin is the wife of A, a Worship Pastor, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, a and e.