I am often in awe over how much I love Christ Jesus. He is the reason why I am married. He is the reason why I serve him in his church. He is the reason I wake up each day.
And how lucky I am that he loves me even more.
The past seven weeks my boss and I have been teaching 12 pre-teens about the church and God and the Bible through a United Methodist confirmation class. After the seven weeks, the youth will be confirmed into the church and also become members.
Teaching pre-teens, which I usually don't do, because I teach teenagers and beyond, is a real test of faith for me.
Pre-teens are just a little too young for my teaching style. They are up and out of their seats. They don't listen. They whine. They are always hungry and thirsty. And they always say, "this is boring."
I just want to shake them because to me, this isn't boring! Learning about your faith is the most important thing that you can devote your time too.
But, teaching this confirmation class has reminded me of a lot. It reminds me that God wants us to have childlike faith (Mark 10:13). And you can't get more in practice with that scripture than by teaching faith in a child(like) setting.
I guess religion and doctrine and old time scrolls are not too childlike anyway.
Jesus' love is the most authentic, the most childlike understanding of our faith. Nothing is more simple than love. Children, babies in fact, understand the concept of love. Whereas they don't necessarily understand the concept of religious prophecy and ancient texts.
We need to let love shine. And we need to keep that love authentic and sincere (Romans 12:9). No matter the age.
