God's Children : God's Glory

Matthew 5: 16 "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven"

    When a child accepts Christ as his/her personal Lord and Savior, God puts His Spirit in that child to change his/her old ways of living into a new one that is pleasing to God. God's Spirit is given to us to plant seeds of good living and good works into our lives as Jesus said in our Text "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven". That is to say we should live our lives in accordance or in obedience to the Spirit of God in us that all men (which includes our parents, brother, sisters, friends, neighbors, teachers and everyone else) will see that we belong to God and because of our good behaviors and lifestyles they will be very happy and grateful to our heavenly Father that changed us from our old bad ways and habits into this bright and beautiful one.
    Now, what are those things that we can do or show before "all  men" will see and glorify God? I'll tell you, In Galatians 5:22-23 the Bible says "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self control; and here there is no conflict with the law". When you  have Love in you, you'll know how to forgive people when they offend you and those who don't like you either. Proverbs 10:12 say "...Love overlooks insults". Having Joy in your life keeps you happy at all times even when things are bad, also, having God's joy in us gives us inner strength to do anything we want to do that is right just as the prophet Nehemiah says in Nehemiah 8:10 "...for the Joy of the Lord is your strength". Peace from God's Spirit keeps us calm even in difficult situations for example when exams are approaching or when trouble comes our way, God's Spirit whispers to us that all is going to be fine if we can trust in God to take care of our needs. Patience helps us not to be worried when things delay or when we think our needs are not being met when we need them. Kindness and Goodness from God's Spirit makes us do kind and good things to people who are around us like giving food to poor people, sharing our toys, giving out our old clothes, buying for others good things and saying kind words to each other which people see. Faithfulness from the Holy Spirit helps you to be loyal to your friends and family even in difficult times instead of abandoning them like evil children will do and also to help us keep and fulfill the promises we make. Furthermore, Gentleness and Self-Control giving by the Holy Spirit helps us to take everything that comes our way daily with ease and calm. Having the gentleness of God's Spirit won't allow you to speak angrily or rudely to others even when you are upset or angry, having self-control from the Holy Spirit helps you to say No! to peer pressure i.e when friends pressure you to do wrong  for example, a class mate wants you to steal test questions from your teacher or to steal answers from someone else. Self-Control also will help you not to retaliate back and to forgive those that hurt you even when people want you to take revenge.

   Finally kids, know that our daily life, attitude and behaviors should reflect the fruit of the Holy Spirit so that God will be glorified by others when we act as the Word of God says for we are created for God's glory. We as God's children are also a source of God's glory. God Bless You.