Do you love the children you work with? As Christian parents and teachers, God calls us to love the children that He’s placed within our care. Some days this is very easy. Other days, enjoying your kids ends up being very hard. God knows this and He is always ready to give us just what we need to give to our kids.
My good friend and mentor, Rev. Barney Kinard often says to me, “Love the children you work with.” I like when he says this because it helps ground me to the purpose of why I am The Scripture Lady. If I am not enjoying being with the kids I teach, then something is wrong. And I am usually the one who is in error.
Maybe I am just having a bad day and my temper is getting the best of me. Maybe there is a situation in my life that I have very little control over and now my fear is pouring over to the kids. We all have difficulties that we face, but today I want to encourage you to remember that God is by your side and in the midst of it all He can help you love the children you work with.
One day, after performing a chapel at a preschool, I had to go to the director’s office. On my way there, I noticed that the teachers had just hosted a fun time of face painting. The kids’ faces were decked out with spiderman webs or pretty colorful flowers. You could tell that all the kids felt special.
Looking over at the table where the kids were receiving their face masterpieces, one little girl came skipping over to another little girl and said, “Don’t I look amazing?!” It was absolutely precious and I walked away with a big smile on my face. But as I continued walking, I thought to myself, “Why don’t we still ask those kinds of questions of our friends? At what point do we lose that awe of self-love?”
As Christians, we are not to be conceited or boastful or proud. But I don’t think that little girl was any of those things. I think she just loved who she was and wanted the same recognition from her friend.
Is it wrong to love ourselves? Absolutely not!
The Bible says that you need to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)
If you have a hard time looking in the mirror and saying that you love the person who is staring back at you, then you are going to have a difficult time loving your children.
So how do you love the children you work with on those hard days when you can’t ask a friend, “Don’t I look amazing?”
Here are 3 thoughts:
1.Pray and ask God to help you see yourself the way He sees you. When you look at your kids, I am guessing you gaze on them with LOTS of love. If that is the kind of love you have for them, can you only imagine the depth of love God has for them? God’s love for YOU is deeper than you can imagine or comprehend. Ask Him to show you how deep and wide is His love for you and receive that truth from Him. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
2. Share the pain in your heart with a close friend whom you trust. There’s a saying that goes like this: “Hurting people hurt people.” If you are in pain, there is a real good chance that your pain is going to overflow to those around you. As a teacher or parent, you need to take responsibility for any pain you are experiencing in a healthy way. One way to do this is to talk it out. (James 5:16)
3. Meditate on God’s love for you by starting with some of these great Bible verses:
Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;…
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