I used to be a lead teacher of a class consisting of 10-12 2 year olds and boy do you hear some interesting things. There was one child, Lilly who had recently begun sharing with me how beautiful she was or how gorgeous her clothes were as she'd twirl around. One month we conducted a classroom activity we called "our weekly prodigies" where we would choose a child and spend a few days learning about that child, posting pictures of the child and their family, and would discuss what made that child special.
Well, this particular week Lilly was our class "Prodigy." She got to wear her pretty Prodigy crown that her and I made together and the teachers and the rest of her classmates shared why we thought she was so special/a prodigy. When it came time for Lilly to explain what she liked about herself and what made her special, she replied, "I have a beautiful booty!" Quite hilarious indeed and was looked so proud saying it (got to love a 2 year old's answers).
But a funny thing began to happen since her prodigy week, she began acting very different from the Lilly that I knew. It was great that she knew that she was beautiful and special, a prodigy but I started noticing that she would begin to use this as a way to get what she wanted. Yes, a 2 year old began manipulating and using what she had to get what she wanted. It was from that instant that I realized something, we should teach them that they are smart, beautiful, special, loved BUT we should also teach them that it was God who made them smart, beautiful, special, loved so that when someone tells them that they are wrong and makes them doubt themselves, they give into arrogance, something life altering happens (a tragic accident that leaves him/her wounded physically, divorce hits, their heart is broken, etc.) they can fall back on the truth that it is not them BUT Christ in them. They can remember that they were made in his likeness. They cannot take credit for something that you did not create.
So, to reel her back in a little, I spent time reminding Lilly that God was her source, that he "made her very special" and it was him that created her "beautiful booty." Constantly speaking him over her and giving him the credit along with edifying her in that she was smart because he made her smart, etc. changed the ways in which she acted, it was quite instant especially for a child that was not raised in a Christian family. Imagine if she did hear this everyday at home, imagine if everyday she was reminded that God made her smart, loved, special? If at 2 years old it has that much of an impact, imagine the adult that she would one day become? What she could one day accomplish due to this confidence in herself and in her God?
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Well, this particular week Lilly was our class "Prodigy." She got to wear her pretty Prodigy crown that her and I made together and the teachers and the rest of her classmates shared why we thought she was so special/a prodigy. When it came time for Lilly to explain what she liked about herself and what made her special, she replied, "I have a beautiful booty!" Quite hilarious indeed and was looked so proud saying it (got to love a 2 year old's answers).
But a funny thing began to happen since her prodigy week, she began acting very different from the Lilly that I knew. It was great that she knew that she was beautiful and special, a prodigy but I started noticing that she would begin to use this as a way to get what she wanted. Yes, a 2 year old began manipulating and using what she had to get what she wanted. It was from that instant that I realized something, we should teach them that they are smart, beautiful, special, loved BUT we should also teach them that it was God who made them smart, beautiful, special, loved so that when someone tells them that they are wrong and makes them doubt themselves, they give into arrogance, something life altering happens (a tragic accident that leaves him/her wounded physically, divorce hits, their heart is broken, etc.) they can fall back on the truth that it is not them BUT Christ in them. They can remember that they were made in his likeness. They cannot take credit for something that you did not create.
So, to reel her back in a little, I spent time reminding Lilly that God was her source, that he "made her very special" and it was him that created her "beautiful booty." Constantly speaking him over her and giving him the credit along with edifying her in that she was smart because he made her smart, etc. changed the ways in which she acted, it was quite instant especially for a child that was not raised in a Christian family. Imagine if she did hear this everyday at home, imagine if everyday she was reminded that God made her smart, loved, special? If at 2 years old it has that much of an impact, imagine the adult that she would one day become? What she could one day accomplish due to this confidence in herself and in her God?
What does scripture say.......
Genesis 1:27 (NIV)
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Psalm 139:13-18
13 For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful, I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them!18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand —when I awake, I am still with you.
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