Here is a fun Family Devotional to accompany the movie Little Women

In the movie Little Women, there are many excellent themes to discuss with your children. Watch this movie together and then use the tools below to have a short devotional.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:12-14

Little Women is a sweet story about the love of a family and their lives during war time. While love is one of the major themes, another theme that we often overlook is the theme of sacrifice. Once Christmas morning, the girls sit down for a beautiful meal when their mother tells them that there is a family who has no food. The girls pack up their food willingly and take it to the family in need. When Marme needs money to visit their injured father, Jo cuts off all her hair and sells it. She doesn’t think twice, she just does it to help her family. Beth also exhibits sacrifice by visiting the same needy family from before to help with their sick children. This ends up with her getting scarlet fever and later to her death. These girls, led by their mother, are consistently living a life of sacrifice in order to serve others and they do it with glad and willing hearts (most of the time).

God calls us to live a similar life. He does not tell us that our blessings are bad, but He does expect us to use the blessings He gives us to bless others. In Genesis 12:3, God tells Abraham that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” He built sacrifice into the very fabric of who Israel was and who are meant to be as believers. Jesus was the ultimate example of sacrifice when He went to the cross to pay for our sins.

Romans 5:8 reminds us of this: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Some of the sacrifices will be as small as giving up your seat, letting your sibling wear the shirt you wanted to wear, or doing a chore that someone else does not want to do. These small sacrifices show love and service to those we encounter. They show the world that believers are different and that we have something worth pursuing. Some sacrifices, however, will be large. Beth’s sacrifice led to her death and, while that may not be your fate, you will see that some sacrifices will have big costs. But God shows us that this life of sacrifice is a life that brings Him glory. This life leads the nations to be blessed through each of us.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

Discussion Questions:

1. What are ways that you already sacrifice for others?

2. What are things in your life that feel hard to sacrifice or let go of?

3. How would sacrifice change the way your friends viewed God and the world?