Real Relationships Right Now!

I’m a night owl, and I love that moment when all of my children are asleep and can sneak into their rooms and kiss them lightly on their cheeks. I love gazing at their beautiful faces and thinking about all the antics of their day. They look so peaceful and quiet. It is at that moment that I think about how much God loves them too, how sweet they are to him, and how he takes joy in their personalities and longs to have a relationship with them.
That relationship between my children and God is paramount in my life. If I teach them nothing else as a parent, I must teach them that one concept: that God loves them so much that he wants to have a relationship with them. Not an ordinary relationship, but a close, personal lasting relationship that will move them from this earthly realm to his heavenly kingdom some day when their work here is done.
Right now, that is my job as a parent: to teach them about that relationship.
As a Sunday school teacher, that is your job. It doesn’t really matter if they can name all the books of the Bible in succession. It’s not important that they recite the seven bowls of the revelation. The vast knowledge contained in Christian philosophy is insignificant in comparison to that relationship. Really, if your children understand only one concept from years of Sunday school it should be that God loves them so much that he sent his son to die for them so that they can have a deep, personal relationship with him. That’s it. That’s reality.
So, how do you do that? It’s simple: tell them and teach them.
Tell them often.
Studies prove that children learn from repetition. Vast teaching methodologies have been formed from this single concept. It is truly the cornerstone of educational thought, yet for some reason modern Christian education dismisses repetition as tedious or tiring. Telling children that Jesus loves them and desires a relationship with them should be a weekly affair. This doesn’t mean it must be a boring, rote lecture, but instead it can take many forms. You can have a discussion surrounding this concept during free time, incorporate it into prayer. Form whole lessons around it, or simply remind students before they leave you for the day. Print a copy of John 3:16 and put it up on the wall. Direct students to this truth in the multiple verses in the Bible; create songs and sing them often; use activities with this concept as the center. In some fashion, every week, children need to receive this message of love and salvation. When they leave your classroom, they may not hear it again for seven days, or longer. They may never hear it again, as they may never return to your class.
With urgency, you must approach this mission as an isolated opportunity to plant the seeds of salvation with the understanding that you cannot afford let this occasion pass you by. God has given you this exact moment in time with this child to give them this message. You may be the only person that delivers this message to this child. You may be that child’s only hope for every knowing the gracious love of Jesus Christ. What an awesome opportunity God has given you!
Tell your children, tell them weekly, that God loves them and wants a relationship with them, then model God’s love through relationships.
Relationships are powerful. Relationships are lasting. God desires a relationship with each of us, and what better way to demonstrate God’s love than to model that relationship with your students.