# 376 01/08/07 To imitate Christ, child must first know him.
I suggested last week that there is a better way than New Year’s resolutions to make changes in our lives. Rather than draft a list of resolutions, it would be better for our child to achieve a heart change that will make him a “new creation.” New Year’s resolutions sometimes last only a few days. A new creation is a change for eternity.
I have a picture of my eighteen-month-old grandson walking through the woods behind his father, my son. Already, it is obvious that he is copying his dad in the way he walks, the way he holds his head and the way he swings his arms. Not obvious in the picture are many other ways that he is becoming like his father.
Some of the ways that my grandson is like his father are due to genetics. However, it is relationship that makes my grandson want to please his father by imitating him. Time spent with his dad teaches my grandson about his dad’s character. The better he knows his dad, the more like him he will become.
So it is with us and our relationship with Christ. The deeper our relationship with Jesus, the more we want to be like him. The more we know about him, the more we will become like him. This is how we become a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. A new creation wants to change because his heart has changed.
If our child wants to make a change such as being more obedient to his parents, the answer is not a New Year’s resolution. The answer is to help our child have a relationship with and know the character of Christ. This does not just happen. Our own relationship with and knowledge of the character of Christ will not ooze into our child. He must develop his own relationship and gather his own knowledge.
We must plan to actively teach our child about prayer and Bible reading. Failing to do so will make it more difficult for him to know Christ.
Next week, I will write about some specifics about teaching the faith.