This simple preteen devotion will help students in fifth and sixth grade better understand that God is the ultimate source of truth.

You’ll need:

• 2 bowls
• plastic spoons
• salt

Preteen Children’s Ministry Devotion: Is It Really True?

On a table, set out the two bowls of salt and several spoons. Gather the kids in a group near the table.

Say: Every day we can hear or see things that make us wonder if it’s the truth or not. What’s something you’ve seen or heard and then wondered if it was true? For example, sometimes ads claim a special cream will keep skin wrinkle-free or claim that a soap will get any stain out. Hmmm, are those true claims?

Ask: What about you—when have you heard something that made you think, “Is that really true?”

Wait for kids to respond.

Say: Sometimes it’s hard to know whether something we hear or see is the truth or not. Sometimes the truth and a lie look the same, but we have to decide. Let’s see what that’s like.

On the table are two bowls. One might have sugar in it, and the other might have salt in it. They both look the same just sitting in a bowl! Here’s the deal: If you think you know what’s in the bowls, I’ll let you go to the table and take a small amount in one of the spoons. Don’t eat it yet—just carry it back in the spoon and sit down. When everyone who wants to taste test makes their choice, you may taste what you have in your spoon. Then we’ll see who ended up with what.

Let kids volunteer to go get a small amount from one of the bowls (not too much or they may feel sick!). Don’t let kids shake the bowls or smell them. They have to make their choice by only looking at the bowls.

When everyone who sampled from the two bowls sits back down, have them taste what’s in their spoons. Don’t react to what happens. Simply ask what they had in their spoons. Soon kids will figure out that no one got any sugar because both bowls have salt in them.

Debriefing

Ask:

• How do you feel right now?
• How could you tell if it was sugar or salt in the bowl?
• Describe another time you couldn’t tell if something was really what it seemed to be?

Say: Like our salt experiment here, things aren’t always what they appear to be. Sometimes we need to test things to see if they’re really true.

If I had let you touch or move the bowls, you might have been able to figure out that both bowls have salt in them. Not everything we are told stands up to the truth test. It’s hard to know what’s true sometimes. But God’s truth always passes the test. God never tells us something that isn’t true—never! Whatever God tells us in the Bible is always the truth. 

Read aloud John 8:31-32. Ask:

• What might it mean that truth will set us free?
• Why do you think people sometimes lie to us?
• How would you feel if you thought God sometimes lied to you?

Say: As long as we listen to what God and Jesus say in the Bible, we will know the truth. We never have to worry about being lied to by God, and this helps us feel free to believe the Bible.

For more preteen content, check out Group’s BE BOLD Sunday school curriculum. In this curriculum, you’ll find lessons specifically geared toward preteens and their faith questions. For a sample lesson, check out this article. And for even more preteen ideas, check out these posts!