“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Corinthians 5:17

This is a grasshopper we found as we were walking in our field. He is molting, wiggling out of his old outer shell (exoskeleton) that has gotten too small. Grasshoppers have their skeleton on the outside, unlike ours and a lot of other animals that have a skeleton on the inside that grows with us. He sheds his old exoskeleton and then he rests a bit on the blade of grass. He lets his wings dry and fold out so that he can fly and begin this new part of his life.

When we invite Jesus Christ into our lives and our hearts, we, also, become new creations. When Jesus is with us and in our hearts, we may not look any different. Just like the grasshopper that still looks like a grasshopper, we still look the same on the outside. But inside we now have Jesus with us. We are changed on the inside. We try to be like Jesus and God our Father. We are kind to others because Jesus helps us care for people like He does. We love the people around us because Jesus helps us to love people like He does. And we follow the things from the Bible that Jesus asks us to do. We are His new creations!

                                          Jesus Helps Me

Jesus came into my heart and now I’m happy and loved.

Every time I talk to people at school, and home, and day care, I try say the kind words I would like to hear.

Smiling, I help my teacher, my mom or a kid in my class because I want to help others like Jesus did.

Understanding Bible stories about Jesus helps me to be more like Him.

Sharing with people that need it, helps them, makes me feel good, and is what Jesus wants me to do.

This week think about one thing you can do to be more like Jesus. Can you smile at someone at school? Can you help your mom with a chore at home? Can you say a kind word to someone who looks sad? Ask your parents to help you think of something you could do, then do it! Draw a picture or write a sentence about how your “old ways” are gone and how you became a “new creation”.

Afterwards ask your parents to share your work so that all of us can learn to become new creations.

*Note to Parents: I apologize profusely. I had no idea that wordpress.com would not pass onto me any pictures in a reply or comment to the blog. I am sorry if you tried to post something your children had done and got no response or never saw it on the Kids Gallery page. Please, if you would like to send your children’s work, send it by email to peggystroudwrites@gmail.com or send it through Facebook Messenger. Again, I apologize for the ignorance on my part.