It’s January 2. Some of you parents are already feeling beat up and discouraged as your perfect plans for family worship and devotion have already been shot through.

Don’t let the ghosts of (Bible-reading) plans past rob you from the present power of the Word of God for you and yours.

You’ve likely heard the adage “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” As a recovering perfectionist raising at least one, maybe more, of my own, I have another to add, specifically when it comes to family devotions: “Perfection is the enemy of pattern.”

Pattern vs. Perfection

When Paul wrote his last and poignant letter to Timothy, his spiritual son and gospel ministry partner, he reminds him twice of the power of pattern: first in the beginning of his letter in reference to their relationship and again at the end in reference to his relationship with his mother and grandmother.

“Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit I entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1: 13–14).

Here, Paul draws Timothy’s attention to the pattern of sound words he observed, both in season and out of season (to borrow a phrase from later in the letter) as he lived and worked alongside Paul. The Greek word hupotupósis literally means ”an outline” or “a form.” Paul essentially says, the trends of my life and my time followed a certain form that was bent towards and around God and his Word; when I am gone, fight to keep tracing that pattern in your own life. Pass it on.”

Later in the letter, Paul reminds Timothy of the power resulting from patterns set by Lois and Eunice in his younger, formative years:

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3: 14).

We don’t know the exact delivery system by which Lois and Eunice surrounded Timothy with God’s living words, but we do know that there was a habit and a pattern which led to his early acquaintance with the Scriptures.

The Source of the Soundness

The soundness is in the God-breathed, unchanging, inimitable Word of God, not in our shaky systems of devotion or our own structure. In both aforementioned verses, the power clearly belongs to the Word and to the Spirit, not to ourselves or our systems and plans.

Systems and plans (and constant reboots of said systems and plans) are necessary, but they are not the main event: the pattern of sound Words which point us to Jesus is the central reality. If we can wrap our minds around this reality, we will be freed from the two ditches we will most likely fall into: excessive structure that leads to rigidity or excessive freedom which leads to chaos. Loosely structured systems with ample room for repentance and with adaptive power for different learning styles and dispositions help us build the pattern of sound words in our homes and hearts.

We have one son who errs on the side of rigidity, another who errs on the side of chaos, and one who prefers to draw his devotion to the Lord rather than journal it. We have tried many different systems, and we just began a new one a few days ago. The plan is not iron-clad, and we will not perfectly follow it; however, the plan shows our prioritization of Christ and his Word and the plan offers a chance to model repentance and returning with and before our children.

Hopefully and prayerfully, our boys will be able to look back on our imperfect plans for family devotion and trace the pattern of sound teaching that are able to make them wise for salvation.

Happy January 2nd to you. Get back on that imperfect plan that points to a perfect Savior. He is more sound than all your shaky devotion.