If you have not already done so, I would recommend that you first
read the pages
before using this page to teach your children the
First Commandment. Those pages
provide a good background for understanding
the Commandments as taught in
Christian Science.
Assuming you've read
the pages recommended above, let's jump in:
FOR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN:
Have
them memorize the First Commandment.
Point out the word "me." Explain
that it refers to God. He is talking about
Himself here. He is asking
that we put Him first. He is to be the number one
power in our life.
He is the
only power.
Explain that God is good. There is no badness
in Him. So, if we put God first,
we must put good first. We must love
to be good, say good words, do good
deeds, and love the goodness in
others.
Point out the words "other gods." These are the voices and
thoughts that would
tempt us to do bad things or say bad words, or
think bad thoughts about ourselves
or others. "Other gods" can also
be certain things or activities that we love more
than God. They might
"tempt" us to disobey our parents, or be unkind to others,
or have
a tantrum, if we are not allowed to do what we want to do. These "other
gods" love for us to disobey God and listen to them instead. But we
must listen to
the voice of God and his angel messages which tell
us how to obey God and put
Him first.
Do some role-playing with your
children. Pretend to be in an everyday kind of
situation, such as
playing with others, helping Mom, getting dressed to go to day
care,
eating dinner, or getting ready for bed. What might an "other god"
(or as
the book of Genesis calls it: "the serpent") whisper to us?
Teach them how to
be alert to the voice of error suggesting false
beliefs and actions to mortal mind.
The youngest kids, of course,
won't give a hoot if they are being disobedient to
God when it comes
time to finishing their favorite TV show or computer game.
So, this
takes patience, and a level of expectancy that is not too demanding,
yet
optimistic! That's the beauty of repetition and consistency. If
you keep
reminding them where those suggestions of disobedience come
from, and that
they have the power, even at their young age, to turn
off the insubordination,
eventually it will sink in.
Just keep asking
them the question, "Who said that?" Or, "Did God tell you to
sass
me back? I don't think so." "It is wrong to hit your sister, and you
know it!
Don't let error tell you otherwise." "You are good because
God made you that
way, and we're going to put God and good first!
Agreed?" "Let's not break the
First Commandment. We're going to obey
God by turning away from this belief
that you can be hurt. God doesn't
make accidents to happen. Let's be quiet a
moment and see if His angels
have a better message for us."
When you are having a bad day yourself,
it doesn't hurt to confess that you are
having a hard time, and maybe
need to take a break and talk to God for a while,
to remember who
you really are: a spiritual idea who cannot be separated from
divine
Love, the source of all goodness. You can admit to your kids when
you
have broken the First Commandment, "I guess I was just putting
myself ahead of
God just now; maybe I need to back off and reconsider
what the best thing might
be for all of us." Give them examples of
how to humbly stand aside, and give
God a second chance to be our
number one Mind.
Other things to say that are in the spirit of the
First Commandment, as you
challenge your children in their words and
action: "Is that a good thing or a bad
thing? What would God think?"
"Is that loving or hateful? Would God like what
you just did?" "That
was a nice thing you just did. You were being the kind of
child God
created you to be."
Also, "We can't let the bad thoughts have power
over us. We must stop listening
to them! Let's try to focus on the
truth of God right now. God is more powerful
than error. The voice
of Truth is louder than the voice of error, if we tune into
Truth."
And some children's favorite response to error: "There is no spot
where God is
not!"
FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
Later, as your children learn
to read and build their vocabulary, you can introduce
them to the
seven synonyms of God. I plan to write some pages on the synonyms
later. You can show them the names of God in the textbook on page
465: Mind,
Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love.
As you
teach them what these terms mean, explain that man reflects these
aspects
of God through spiritual qualities. For instance, because
God is Love, man is
loving, patient, tender, unselfish, forgiving,
brave, thoughtful, and kind. Because
God is Mind, man is intelligent
and wise. Because God is Truth, man is honest,
truthful, faithful,
and trustworthy.
With this enlarged concept of God, the children can
expand their use of the First
Commandment. I will not go through all
the ways in which this can be done, but
as you grow in your understanding
of the synonyms, you can share this with your
child. For instance,
if God is Life, what would have more power, the belief in
aging and
dying, or the truth that Life is ageless and eternal? What idea should
we entertain in thought -- that of Life or that of death? Should we
fear death?
Or can we trust that God, being eternal Life, will forever
hold His children in
perfect immortality, co-existent with Him? If
Life is first, and we want to obey
the First Commandment of having
"no other gods" before Life, we will live each
day with joy and vitality,
no need to be depressed. Expression is the opposite of
depression,
and to be obedient to God, putting Him first, we will express the
qualities of Life, not lay about in a stupor mesmerized with suggestions
of
depression. Get up and live!
Explain the idea of loyalty to God,
and how important it is that God and other
people in our lives can
trust us to do the right thing, to be responsible citizens,
even when
no one is looking! God is always with us, and we are also always
with
our own reflection of the consciousness of God. Therefore, we cannot
hide
from Mind. We know when we are not being trustworthy, and that
is all that
counts -- not whether or not our teacher or parents or
the police will catch us.
Our sense of self-worth is worth keeping
pure and good, and we can do that by
obeying the First Commandment.
Cultivate the love of God in your child by pointing out the evidence
of God's
work in your daily life and in current events elsewhere.
Magnify the good you
see occurring. When bad things happen, explain
to your child that that is an
opportunity to deny that there is any
other god or power besides God. Affirm that
evil actions are not God's
will, that God is only good. It is not always easy to do
this (in
fact, it rarely is, until you get very, very experienced at handling
"animal
magnetism," which is the term Mrs. Eddy uses to define mortal
mind and its
method of operation). We obey the First Commandment when
we mentally insist
that no matter what the physical senses claim have
happened, God is ll-powerful,
ever-present, all-knowing, and all-acting,
and therefore it is an absolute
impossibility that anything else has
taken place.
Think of how you might react if you heard that the best,
most loving person you
knew was accused of murder. You would instantly
rebel at such an idea, swear
that this must be a case of mistaken
identity! Yet, how easily people point the
finger at God when some
disease or accident claims the mortal life of a child,
and sadly say
that it must be God's will. We must be loyal to God, and come to
His
defense as easily as we would for a respected friend. How dare we
believe
that He would take the life of one of His children! The First
Commandment asks
us to be loyal to God. Your child can understand
this.
Older children start taking an interest in the injustices in
the world around them.
To give them something to ponder with regard
to the First Commandment and the
idea of the oneness of God, have
them study this paragraph from Science and
Health found on page 340:
"'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' (Exo-
dus xx. 3.) The
First Commandment is my favorite text. It demonstrates Christian
Science.
It inculcates the triunity of God, Spirit, Mind; it signifies that
man shall
have no other spirit or mind but God, eternal good, and
that all men shall have
one Mind. The divine Principle of the First
Commandment bases the Science of
being, by which man demonstrates
health, holiness, and life eternal. One infinite
God, good, unifies
men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends
wars; fulfils
the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and
Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal,
political,
and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse
on man, and leaves
nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed."
Tell your children that God needs us as much as we need Him. We are
His
representatives, His manifestation. We put Him first when we express
the
lovely spiritual qualities that indicate our connection to divinity.
Again,
we "let our light shine," and try to set an example as a good
Christian.
We do not ignore the needs of others in our quest to put
God first. It is the very
unselfish deed we do in service to others
that is God-like. We do not lose our
common sense and care for others
in our spiritual growth. Mrs. Eddy tells us in
Science and Health:
"The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the
humanity of Jesus."
I think it is good to encourage our children to join service
clubs
such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and to seek out opportunities
to do
charitable work. They can also learn, then, that some of the
best charity work we
can do is to think merciful and true thoughts
about the lives of others; to know that
God blesses them and takes
care of them. We should not dwell long in sympathy
when it hits us,
but take it up to the level of compassion. We help others, but we
do not get bogged down into believing in the reality of their situation.
If God is
all powerful, then the "other gods" of poverty, tragic circumstances,
abuse, and
prejudice cannot victimize God's children nor keep them
down. Truth and Love
set free.
Your children can learn to turn to
the one Mind for help in school. The belief in
many minds separate
from God is in disobedience to the First Commandment.
We must claim
to have the "mind of Christ," the Christ consciousness that reflects
divine Mind. Then we can be sure that the qualities of intelligence
and wisdom
will be ours to use when we need it. The ability to comprehend
new ideas,
perceive and intuit ideas, to remember just what we need
for a test, to analyze,
invent, observe, and to focus on the teacher
-- all will be seen as natural and
normal to everyone in school.
Remind
your older children of the importance of rules. In elementary school,
they will be faced with a number of rules that will help to keep everyone
safe.
There was a time when all these rules and regulations were not
needed, but so
many children have been raised without understanding
how to behave in society,
that the rules have had to be imposed for
everyone's protection. But, we can keep
plugging away, trying to obey
God's commandments and the common courtesies
of a polite society,
and maybe one day all these rules in schools and businesses
will be
unnecessary.
At some point, your children might be able to appreciate
some of the ideas
presented in the other lessons on this web site
regarding the
First Commandment,
and
Practicing the First Commandment
in Daily Life. Take a look at those
pages, and see if there are some
suggestions you can use.
These suggestions should give you an idea
of how you might impart the spirit of
the First Commandment to your
children as they grow and are able to understand.
The textbook, Science
and Health, has a complete explanation of the nature of
God. Encourage
your older children to start reading the textbook a few pages a
day.
Some might prefer reading the Bible Lesson found in the
Christian
Science
Quarterly. It comes in six sections, and your child could
fit in at least one section
in the morning before school.
For
over 100 daily lessons for children of all ages on the Ten Commandments,
you
