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Should our children know God? The answer is without question a definite YES. No matter what religion the family practices, knowing God helps teach morals. Many of us learned right from wrong by going to churches, synagogues and mosques with our families. We learned to follow the Golden Rule. But God should be a part of our everyday lives and parents are the main teachers in children's religious upbringing.

It is best to teach by example. We all know what has been called "Sunday morning" Christians. People who go to church and during that time are spiritually lifted and shake the hands of their neighbors. The second they leave the church building they are back to gossiping about their neighbors and belittling anyone different from them. Every religion is full of the hypocrites, but as the saying goes. There is always room for one more.

Children learn about and know God through witnessing their parents' behavior. Children watch their parents more closely than often the parents realize. Sometimes an example could be if they see their father cursing at and being cruel to their mother than they may grow up to emulate his behavior. Another is if they see their mother taking delight in a neighbor's misfortunes, then they may do so as well.

On the other hand, if they see their parents showing kindness then the children learn that this is the right thing to do. For example nothing is more heart warming than a hug from a parent first thing in the morning when the child gets up. That can start the day on a happy note. Helping a neighbor start their car or taking over a dish for an illness or death in the family are also prime examples. But knowing God and what he wants his children to do also extends to strangers on the street. By holding the door for a mother grocery shopping and trying to keep up with a very active toddler, children see that God wants them to do simple acts of kindness to make life a little easier for others even in passing.

This way of teaching children to know God should be common sense. But common sense and common courtesy has become very uncommon in today's lifestyles. Children should see God's love in every action that their parents take. Hopefully if they are brought up seeing kindness though their parents' actions then they will become kind people who practice God's love when they become adults and pass on knowing God to future generations. By knowing God they will also know that they are never alone.

Learn more about this author, Carole Ligi.
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