Let me lead you through just a short lesson you can go through with your family which will help us to live like Jesus. Turn to Colossians 3:1-17.

Looking at these two verses, just remind yourselves that you have been raised with Christ (you are saved, you are not like you used to be but now like Him (2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ), you are in Him and therefore put your heart and mind on Him! When you do that, then think of the things of heaven and not of the earth, particularly when it comes to thinking about the things of God and what He wants from you.

You are no longer alive for yourself but you are dead to self! (Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.) You live for Jesus now and you are “hidden” in Him, you are safe and concealed in Him from the world. You have God’s promise that when Jesus returns again you will go to be where He is, in heaven. (John 14:3, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.)

Now folks, Paul says to put to death, get rid of, let it go from your life, whatever is still a part of this old world, the natural sinful nature that you were born with. They are the things that you once did and participated in …”sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Don’t do these any more! Now that is not all you can’t do anymore, look at these things that many of us do and we don’t think that they are as bad as all that other stuff, they are still not of God and we should stop them from being in our lives …”anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other.” Paul says, because all of these things there will be the wrath of God to come to bring judgment and remember that you once lived like that but now you are different and God has changed you.

Basically we hear Paul say that all of us no matter where we come from, what we look like, what social or economic group we are in, what faith we might have been before becoming a Christian, how much we have or don’t have or anything else, we who are in Christ are the same in Jesus! We are brothers and sisters in the Lord and we have the privilege to have God as our Father and Jesus as our Savior and Lord. With all this diversity in the body and church of Jesus Christ, we are all one in Him!

Dear friends you are chosen, privileged and loved of God! Because of that be holy, have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience just like Christ since we are His. These are the things you need to teach your children but first be yourself. We have to forgive each other when we have been wronged. Why? Because we are Christ and He is in us. You see Jesus forgave us and therefore we must forgive others too. Paul wants us to understand and we see it here and in many other places, that love is the most important thing for Christians to display in their lives. Love is the binding thing for believers. The family first needs to do these things for each other and then our lives must then reach out in love and show the world that God lives in us through His love.

Peace and thanksgiving are truly marks of a Christian. Let them rule in our lives and be seen by others, particularly Christ.

The message of Jesus, all this that we have just talked about and so much more, needs to first reign in your life and then be taught using wisdom. How do we teach and learn these things? WE do it through songs, Psalms and hymns. That is why the book of Psalms is so important to the family. Reading it and teaching from it is so important. Use it as a text book to teach the family about God. We sing from our hearts and we sing to God not to others. All of this is done in gratitude to the Lord.

This last verse makes it clear that all we do, say, think etc… we do it for the Lord and His honor and glory, all the while giving thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

Note that this is just one short verse that can be used to teach your children about God and how to live a life pleasing unto the Lord. I hope this might be the beginning of a time of teaching from the parents to the children for your family. Those who have no children at home or have never had children then use this for your own Bible study.