Teaching Our Kids to Reflect Christ
Teaching our children things seems to be an easy thought. We think we should just be able to tell them something and they easily obey and change their actions to fulfill the new lessons. Well once you become a parent, you see how laughable that whole scenario actually is.
Just like those throughout the Bible, children (and adults) don’t enjoy being told what to do and they don’t excel at following through. But do any of us? We’re born into a broken world with a heart that doesn’t understand how imperfect we are. We can’t comprehend how much we need a savior until we understand our own shortcomings.
As with anyone, our children want to see us practice what we preach. They should be firsthand witnesses to what we believe. Our faith is shown in our actions. They will see the fruit!
A great lesson in our responses reflecting Christ can be found in Galatians. Paul was writing to the people of Galatia to explain what was needed to be believers. Since the majority of the people there would have been Gentiles, they didn’t understand the Jewish traditions. Some of the Jewish believers felt that the Gentiles should start picking up the Old Testament, Mosianic covenant, traditions. Paul wrote to them to set things straight.
Part of the letter teaches the early church, and the Church today, about living by the Spirit. Here’s where the fruit of the Spirit can be found.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24)
We can teach our children about the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit as we reflect Christ in the same ways. Through loving others, being joyful, celebrating peace in our home, dealing with each other with patience and kindness, demonstrating goodness, walking through life faithfully, being humans that are gentle with each other, and having self-control each day. These are the ways that we can reflect Christ in our homes, in our lives, and to our children. These are the ways they will be witness to what Christ has done in us and can grow in their own relationship with Jesus to reflect him, too.
