When the world sees a Christian being judgmental and self-righteous, it is probably also true that the Christian is not humble. We must teach our children humility, and we will need to work on this character trait for eighteen years.
There is really only one way that we can become humble in the way that Christ would want us to be. That is by taking to heart the words of Paul, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and realizing the sacrifice that Christ made so that we can be forgiven of those sins. That concept is difficult for children younger than middle elementary school age.
However, we can begin to teach our preschooler humility by focusing on what God has done for her. He has given her a family to love her and created a beautiful world for her to enjoy. He gave his Word in the Bible so she could get to know him. He died for her sins. And, all the things that are special about her are gifts from God.
We can reinforce that last concept by the things we say about her gifts. We might say, “I really like to listen to your songs. God gave you a gift of being able to remember songs that you hear, and he made your voice clear and strong. Thank you, God, for making Missy’s voice so beautiful.”
That kind of comment establishes an important foundational concept. She does not sing well through her own efforts alone. Her ability is a gift from God. She may work later in her life to improve her skills in music, but the underlying gift comes from God.
Paul expressed humility throughout his letters to the churches, but nowhere did he do it more succinctly than in 2 Corinthians 3:5. He said, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”
I would challenge today’s parents to focus on teaching humility to their children. Then, perhaps for the rest of their lives people will say of them, “There is something about those Christians that makes me want to know their Leader.”