Has it happened in your classroom yet? Every year, new children flood your class with bright smiles and unique personalities. After working, learning, and playing together, at some point, this little group has become family. You celebrate strengths, work through squabbles, and, best of all, learn about Jesus’ love together.

You and your students also belong to another family, God’s family. Because of his great love for us, God adopted us. No one deserves this adoption. By nature, we all are slaves to sin, and each day we battle this sinful nature. On our own, we are destined to lose, but God made sure that we don’t have to fight on our own. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. . . to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus lived a perfect life, took our punishment to the cross, and defeated sin, death, and the devil when he rose from the dead. We are no longer slaves but are God’s children, adopted into his family.

Now we receive the benefits of being in God’s family. We trust him to take care of our needs. Like children ask their parents, we take our requests and concerns to God, trusting him. “If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). Our heavenly Father knows best how to take care of our earthly and spiritual needs.

Because we are adopted into God’s family, we will receive an inheritance. “You are no longer a slave, but God’s child, and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:7). Our inheritance is that perfect home in heaven. We look forward to being free from sin and pain and sadness. Even more, we anticipate being with our heavenly family forever. We will get to be with Jesus!

And that’s what we want for our classroom families. We pray that the Holy Spirit puts faith in the hearts of these children and their families. We use God’s Word to teach them about how we went from slaves to children of God. We encourage them and are encouraged by them as we walk through our daily lives. We become family. What a wonderful family we have now, and what a wonderful family we’ll have in heaven!