How many times have you heard the term (or one similar) “They’ve taken God out of public schools!”? I’ve heard it many, many times but so far it has failed to worry me. Don’t get me wrong, it saddens me that a teacher can actually get fired if he or she offends someone by praying aloud or teaching scripture in a public school. It saddens me that some school systems (not mine) have taken the phrase “under God” out of their daily Pledge of Allegiance. It frustrates and sometimes angers me that other religions seem to be tolerated so quickly, yet Christianity simply will not be tolerated in some public school systems. It makes me want to cry out “What are we doing?” But when I get completely worked up over laws and rights, I feel the gentle push of the Holy Spirit saying this to me: “When was the last time you were this sad over the fact that some kids never have clean clothes on? Were you this upset when the boy in time out over there didn’t come to school because no one got up to get him dressed and on the bus? Are you this passionate when the same child just doesn’t get it no matter how much you teach?” You see, if I’m not careful, I can so caught up in the idea of protecting my Christianity (which does have its place) that I forget to actually live my Christianity. And as a kindergarten/first grade teacher in a public school, I need to live my Christianity every second of every day. I’m not worried that God has been taken out of our public schools. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and Omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time, no matter what laws politicians make up. No man has the power to direct where God can and cannot be. God is in our schools. Jesus is in our schools. He is in the hearts of His believers. His love shines through us. Us. We are to be Jesus to the world. So, to the Christian teacher in a public school, I am in no way telling you to break the law or hinder your job! But I am reminding you (and mostly myself! :)) that it’s okay for you to bring Jesus into your classroom. We may not be able to explicitly teach the Bible and prayer to our students, but we can live the Word. We can live the way Jesus calls us to live. That’s what He’s called us to do, after all! We are just seed-planters. He is the one who saves. So how do we plant seeds? How do we live the Word when we can’t teach about the Word? We love. Oohhhhh my, this is so easy for me to say right now as I sit in my comfy chair. After two months, I’ve conveniently forgotten that I won’t be sitting again for about 10 months. Farewell, comfy chair. It’s so easy for me to talk about loving when I haven’t met that child that’s going to do their best to make me dislike them. It’s easy to talk about loving when I haven’t been in a stressful parent meeting, data meeting, in-service meeting, faculty meeting, and collaboration meeting when I really just need to get in my room and prepare! But in order to show the love of Jesus, we are called to love. What does love look like in a classroom? I was really convicted of this a few years ago as I went around blabbing to anyone who would listen how much I loved kindergarten and how much I loved teaching. What does true love look like? “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 How patient am I when my table is full of papers, files, and assessments and an unexpected parent meeting pops up during my prep time? How kind am I when the same child misbehaves time and time again? (That one hurts…) What about when that other teacher walks by with the perfect class in the hall and my class looks like a circus in comparison? Am I not just a bit envious? Or if it’s me with the perfect class, am I ever boastful or proud, even if it’s just in my head? I’ve just got what it takes to make these kids mind. My teaching must be top-notch…these kids are reading like second graders and it’s not even the first nine weeks! I’m soooooo good! With these verses above, I could go on and on about ways I don’t always show love as a teacher. I am grateful to a God who loves me in spite of me. And this year I am going to show His love, perhaps to little ones who have never experienced it in their own lives. I am going to be a seed planter, not by reading scriptures aloud at school, but by showing them in my actions. I am going to pray in my heart for patience, kindness, humility, trust, hope, perseverance… I am going to pray in my heart for my sweet little ones. 
You know the song “Jesus Loves Me”? There’s a line that I love. It says “Yes, Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so!” I’m so glad for His Word. I’m so glad that I can share it with my personal children, Parker and Peyton, and show them where it tells them that Jesus loves them. But what about those little ones who don’t know what a Bible is? How will they know that Jesus loves them? What about those little ones whose parents are so beaten by life that they haven’t shown their children God’s love? The Lord may place them in your room this year. He may put their name on your list. He may put them at my work table, in my story circle. I plan to show them the love of Jesus by simply loving them. Who will join me?
Sharing with friends at purposefulfaith.com, Tell His Story, andholleygerth.com.
My Story, My Song 
as the song goes…”And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love!”
I love that song so much!
Thank you so much for this! A fellow teacher posted to her facebook timeline and it was such God timing for me. I am starting a second career as a teacher and this will be my first year teaching and sharing Christ with my kids has been heavy on my heart for the last couple of weeks. You are so right that all I have to do is be the Jesus that they see day in and day out and show them the Father’s love to the best of my ability.
I pray that you’ll have a great year, Melissa!
This was also perfect timing for me today. I had a rough day of in service and this reminded me exactly why I teach in a public school.
I’ve been there Stacey. It’s so overwhelming during inservice. I pray you’ll have a great year!
I love this! And I also loved reading through the comments here. I attended 8 years of Catholic elementary/jr high school and graduated from public high school and universities. I have been a teacher in both parochial and public schools. I feel Christ’s presence equally in the parochial and public school settings. And this was just my own experience, but while Christianity was being taught daily in the parochial schools I attended, I saw more examples of Christ-like practice among the students in the public schools in which I studied and taught. Just my experience. 🙂
I truly believe that witnessing with our ACTIONS is more important and much more effective than witnessing with our words. Blessings to you, and thank you for sharing Christ’s love with your students!
Thank you! Have a great year!
Thank you. There is a time and a season for every purpose…our main job is to love. You are blessed to know that as a young mother and teacher. Your children at home and school are blessed as well. My prayer today for schools and teachers will be that my grandson and children everywhere will meet folks who truly know and love Jesus.
Thank you for your kind words Sarajane!
I have been praying for God to place students in my class this year that need to see His love. I always feel like the kids placed in my class were hand-picked by The Lord. He knows my heart and He knows the ones who need to see the love of Jesus through me. Not only me, the parents too. I am always amazed at how certain kids are put with me. On the other side, I am blessed each year with Christian families who tell me that they pray for me daily. I truly believe God does this because he orders my steps and knows what I need!
It’s so great to know that the Lord orders our steps. He’s in control, and that’s a relief to me! Have a great year!
I don’t completely agree with you, particularly how you view the sociopolitical climate you teach in. However, I love the spirit you are choosing to bring to that climate. I appreciate your commitment to swallowing your pride. I admire your decision to live Jesus to your students, even if you can’t speak him. I wish more Christians approached the modern sociopolitical climate of the US with this spirit; I believe that this country would then really reflect the Kingdom.
Thanks Nathaniel!
Enjoyed reading this post. Actions do speak louder than words, and our students respond more to how we make them feel than what we say. I am a middle school English teacher who is very structured. That can translate to boring and mean, but thanks be to God, it doesn’t in my classroom. Kindness and understanding must prevail if students are to learn anything from us.
I hope my students see Jesus, without me having to preach…
Again, great post!
Have a great year Claire!
A true Christian right here when you read this you are planting seeds here to. Some Christians think they got it but they don’t they conform to this world hiding there faith. You just taught me I get like Peter sometimes and get angry for those who say ill things about God and Jesus but you just showed me with scripture that love doesn’t boast, envy, get angry. Thank you i really needed that God has touched your life and will continue to do so bless you and your family.
Thank you for your kind words Ramon!
Thank you! I have to remind myself, many times, to do my job “as to the Lord,” Colossians 3:23-24. Fortunately, my school is led by Christians, so even though we are a public school, we have a more tolerant “agenda.”
I’m curious what you mean by a more “tolerant ‘agenda'”.
Thank you for this! someone posted this on Facebook and I know He wanted me to read it today. I have been in a Catholic preschool for the past 5 years and in a few weeks I’ll be in a public school kindergarten classroom. I have been struggling with this for awhile but now I know its up to me so show God’s love in all I do!
I’m sure you will have a great year Elisabeth. Change is hard for me, so I will be thinking and praying for you! Blessings to you friend!
As a Music Educator, I still use sacred music during the “Holiday Season”. I always explain the music behind the song, and every year, children talk about what the words actually mean. Sadly, there are some students who have never heard of a “manger” or who “Joseph” was. But with those questions come opportunities to explain them. Singing a watered down version of Jesu Bambino, I was able to talk about the Italian language, Latin tongue, and the REAL story behind Christmas. All Teachers are on the front lines, but Music Teachers get to be in the trenches… sharing Christ through music every chance we get.
I sure love all things music! Have a great year.
I Thank you for posting this.I have worked in Public school and now in a Christian school I pray each day that I will make a difference in some child’s life. I look at my job as my ministry I love my job and look forward to it each and every year. I thank the Lord for the opportunity He has given me to be a light. I want the kids to remember me not for being a good teacher, or for being a nice teacher although I do want to be good and I want to be nice but I want them to see Jesus in me. I want to love each and everyone that comes in my classroom. Yes even those who are challenging , even those who are some days unlovable. I want to love like Jesus loved.
That’s awesome Carol!
Amen!
Thank you for writing the words that my heart has been feeling. It is a beautiful article. I heard Jesus speak through you. 🙂
That’s an honor and a humbling compliment! Thank you so much!
Thank you!!! I’m not a teacher, I’m a concerned mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. I thank God for teachers like you all. I will be praying for you all the way, that God blesses your every effort
Thank you for praying Lea!
I’m not a teacher but I love that you shared this. I’ll be praying this years for all of you that have it hard in your classroom. I know some children have it rough, no love, no home life to speak of, no one to really care. I’m glad God has placed Christian Teachers in our school to love those kids to him. May your year be filled with much love and happiness. God has great plans ahead.
I can’t wait to see where His plans lead Jean!
All educators need to read the law concerning what they can and cannot do while teaching. There is so much for freedom legally than is generalized. Please be informed.
Quick question for the “Christian Teachers”. What happens if you have a kid in class who is a devout Muslim or Jewish or (Oh no surely they don’t exist!) Buddhist or even (Surely no!) Wiccan? Are they just supposed to sit through your beliefs and ignore them? Nope by being asked to use the “under god” alternative phrase (Yes alternative phrase. The original did not include those words.) of the pledge of allegiance they are being asked to participate in a religion that is not there own. So can Jewish teachers have your kid go through a bar or bat mitzvah in 8th grade? No they cant. What you are doing by preaching the “Word” is ostracizing and belittling to children of other faiths and indoctrination to Christian children. Leave preaching in church and Sunday school and let everyone else go about their schooling in a safe neutral environment for everyone.
Hi Abby! The great thing about loving like Jesus is that He loves everyone! The Jew, the Buddhist, and the Wiccan included. I actually plan to live the word instead of preach the word, so I’m simply loving my students like Jesus does. His love won’t ostracize or belittle any child, you can be sure of that! 🙂 Have a great day!
Great answer!! May God continue to bless your efforts to “love as Christ”.
Thank you very much. I have this verse posted by my computer at school to remind me what I’m supposed to be doing…where my focus is supposed to be. It’s been tough to live it the last year with so many negative changes happening. It’s a lot easier to join in with the grouchy, complaining lounge talk than to rise above it. Thanks for the reminder.
Have a fantastic year Kyle!
” To the Christian Teacher in a Public School ” . A great post indeed. Reblogged it.
http://firmwarespot.blogspot.com/
Thank you!
This is awesome…i enjoyed reading this..it is a timely reminder.
our calling is not to ‘defend’ God or Christianity but to ‘Live’ it!
Thanks friend! 🙂
Well stated! You captured what I’ve felt when hearing that phrase about God being removed from public schools or being put back in. Belittles the creator of the universe who is everywhere.
A loving and dedicated teacher can have a powerful witness. The kids know where it comes from. My mother, a retired teacher said, “The children who are hardest to love (like) need the most loving (liking).”
Sounds like she was a very wise teacher!
I’ve been teaching for 31 years. I’ve had people try to shame me for not using my talents for the Lord by teaching in a Christian school. During those 31 years I have had parents go through divorce or lose a parent, children experience car accidents where they lost a parent, a child whose mother committed suicide and she thought it was her fault (as an infant), children raised by grandparents while parents tried to get off drugs or served timed in jail, a child whose little brother died in a fire that consumed her home while she was at school, co-workers who had miscarriages late in their pregnancies, co-workers who were told they had to have a hysterectomy and lost there dream of having their own child and many other similar situations. There have been many opportunities to walk with people through their difficult times and to be God’s hands and feet. God hasn’t been kicked out of the public schools, he’s there within many teachers,, administrators and students.
You’re right. Have a great year!
Rhonda, I so agree with your comments. I too have been asked why I did not choose to work in a private/Christian school. My response has been that this IS MY MISSION FIELD. I too, want to be the hands and feet of Christ, giving love to those who may not be able to get love any other place. It is not about me, but it is all about God. God has given me more opportunities to share my faith in tangible ways than I ever believed possible; all legal, and respectful to those of other faiths. If Christian Educators only teach In Christain schools, who will be there to share the love and message of Christ with the vast number of children, and their families, who need to know this message in our public schools.
A wise pastor once said from the pulpit,”Why do people want teachers at school to teach their kids to pray. That is for pafents and the church.” I agree with everything you say. Public schools must be user friendly for all religions and cultures. I taught for 32 years. Have a great year.
Thanks Brenda!
Exactly!!! If we remove all the Christians from the public schools, they will fall and take the children with them. We are to be the salt to a world who so needs it.
Yes! It’s totally true. I teach 1st grade and feeling important and loved is all that they want. Plus, the kids bring in Jesus through drawings or conversations with each other. God’s too big for any organization to take him out.
Amen Josh!
Love this! And my two children are Peyton and Parker too!!! Great taste :0)
Aww! Sweet!:)
so often our actions Speak loiuder than our words!! Be HIS light in the world–so many students have not seen HIS light or know HIS love. A genuine smile & kind word,is just the beginning
Amen Kay!
I really needed to hear this today. Thank you for this post!
Thank you friend!
Love this! I taught for 12 years and now work at a Christian college training teachers. I, too, believe that God is in our public schools through His believers and Kingdom workers. I wish more Christian teachers were aware of their First Ammendment rights. We do have rights. Blessings!
Thanks for the reminder Kim!
OMG, your students and the parents of your students have no idea what a great teacher they have in you . . . wishing you ALL THE BEST in this school-year and all that follow ~
Thank you Ben!
Yes, Yes, and Amen! Just read your post and it just makes me excited to start the school year. I hope you have a terrific school year! May we all touch the lives of our students along with our co-workers as we live out the love of Jesus!
Thank you! Have a terrific year, friend!
Thank you so much for this post. I’m in the middle of intermittent piti-parties over having to go back to my elementary ALE classroom, the ARD’s, the Behavior Plans, and the advocates. I needed to read this today! Let me be the Jesus my students, parents, and team needs to see each and every day!
I know how you feel Jamalyn. I’ve been there with the behavior plans, the advocates, the specialists, and the meetings. I’ve had many pity parties for myself. I’ll say a special prayer for you right now. Have a great year, friend.
I love your article. I especially appreciate your honesty about becoming frustrated when “stuff” starts piling up! Just like you, I’m sitting here in my comfy chair thinking about how I can minister to my 7th grade (almost the same as kindergarten LOL) students but knowing full well that there will be kids this coming year that “push my buttons” and are so difficult to love. Thanks for the reminder that Jesus loves them so who am I to NOT love them? This will be my 43rd, and last, year of teaching and I hope to leave letting ALL my students know that they are loved. I look forward to reading and being uplifted by your posts this year.
Wow! I’m sure after 43 years you could teach us so much about education! Have a wonderful year.
How do they know you’re not a Buddhist?
Adam, I’m just living out Jesus’ love in my own humanly imperfect way. Jesus will take the seeds I’ve planted and move in hearts and minds as He pleases. I won’t worry whether they think I’m a Buddhist or not. I know where I stand friend. 😉
Oh my goodness! I am a kindergarten teacher in a public school too. I loved this and what a way to start a new school year with this philosophy! I have taught kindergarten one for 21 years and still love it. I have always said I may not be the best teacher some days but when my students leave at the end of the year I want them to remember I loved them! Thank you Paige for sharing your “kindergarten” heart. God has truly blessed us with these words. Have a great school year sister!
You too my kindergarten friend! I love teaching K!
I love this post! I am always wondering what I can and cannot say to my students, but really they should already know my love for Christ through my actions. Plus, I believe in always being honest. If a student asks me a question about any issue, I should always tell them about how through Christ I can get through everything. There is no denying that He is there everyday in our classrooms, no matter how much our politicians, parents, students, or administrators try to shove Him out.
Well said!
Jean Beeler..read the Bible and the freedoms legally there and then…stay informed.
You have written a fabulous article and as a retired teacher of 35 years I totally understand your point. Kids recognize genuine love and know right away when it’s fake. If I could change any thought in your article, it would be the words ” We love.” It’s not enough that we love. We must BE love. There is a difference. … It’s only a slight difference, but at the same time, it is monumental and makes all the difference in the world. BEING Love is all encompassing. Hawkins wrote “The Eye of the I” and also “Power vs. Force.” There is no greater power than God’s Love…and any force against that pales in its effort. If we become love, then all force is futile. Love attracts. Force repels. SO…when you BECOME love, that magnet draws others to follow you…”YOU” being the representation of the Christ.
Wow! 35 years of teaching is an amazing accomplishment! Thanks for sharing!
Amen to your words, Paige! I would add for myself also to be slow to frustration and quick to forgive. Sixth grade students often act without thinking. My prayer is to view those moments as opportunities for coaching rather than interruptions.
Agreed! I need that too!
Hey Donna God Bless you for having the courage, sixth grade! The rebellion is strong here. These children are thinking……but, they think as children who have not made the mistakes and learned life lessons as most adults. I say most adults, because there are those who still think as children. God bless them all! God Bless you again Donna, and everyday in your future…. God Bless Paige and bless her blog.. I pray more people see it, and feel her words as though GOD speaks through them. In Jesus name, Amen.
Thanks Thomas!
I retiree from teaching two years ago and have always been amused by the concept that people have that there is no prayer in public schools. I don’t know how a teacher maintains a good attitude and proper perspective without help from God, and though I never prayed out loud I prayed frequently for those things and for God to meet my students’ needs. I did tel students and parents going through hard times that I would pray for them and never had one offended by it. We are to be salt and light. It can be fun to work undercover.
Thanks for the comment Penny!
I am not a teacher, but I pray for all teachers as they plant the seeds of love, trust, peace and all the attributes that Jesus gives us in His Word. May God bless all of you in the upcoming year.
Thank you!
If you are not being persecuted for your faith, and showing who Jesus is with the love of Christ, than you are doing it wrong! All true believers in the Lord Almighty are being persecuted in one way or another. Live in the world, not of the world.
If you want to follow your Christian faith, in Public Schools, then you will have to allow Muslims, Satanists, Buddhists, Jews, etc. to follow his/her particular faith. Would you allow Muslims to pray at Dhuhr (Noon) and ‘Asr (3PM-ish), if you were teaching Christian Scriptures at that particular Time? I know many schools are allowing Muslims to leave class to pray, but it shouldn’t be allowed. No prayer, whatsoever, should be allowed, unless it is a personal and quiet prayer (which is what the Muslims I went to school with did and they had no problem with it.)
The reason why God is not in schools is because we are not a Christian Nation (nor are we a Muslim Nation, a Jewish Nation, a Buddhist Nation, etc.), if you don’t believe me look at anything our founding fathers wrote and also, check out the Treaty of Tripoli which states, “Art[icle]. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Mohammedan] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
We are not to put a specific set of beliefs in front of another in our country. I don’t call you stupid for believing in your imaginary friend, so please don’t try to constantly tell me he’s real. If you want to teach Scripture in schools, teach at a Christian School. If you teach Christian Scripture, I’ll go ahead and start putting in Atheism or even Satanism into lessons (Not that I’m a Satanist, I am an Atheist; however).
Hi! I’m not planning to explicitly teach the scriptures; I’m planning to live my personal beliefs in them…and that is to show love!
After reading again, I’m thinking you may be a teacher. If so, have a great school year!!!
Thank you for these amazing words of encouragement! Your students and children are very blessed to have you. I will take your words to heart and do my best to bring Jesus into my classroom everyday this year. I know there will be days that I will fail, and I will be thankful on those days that Jesus never fails.
You are so right Beth. Have a great year!
Beautiful …So Special…. and So True!!!
I had this experience with this one Teacher of one of my children. Oh What a Teacher!!! —GOD Bless Her and May The LORD Keep Her Safe Always. —I could go on and on —to describe her…but I’ll just simple say…—My daughter and I —just loved her. —Turned out …and the end of the school year.,.—I found out —She was a Christian!!!
That’s awesome!
I have worked in both public and private Christian schools…….Jesus went both places with me. We can not remove an omnipresent God…….Light of the World…
Amen!
Wonderful article, I am very fourtunate to work at a public school were most of the staff and students are strong Christians already. Thank you for the message as we head into a new school year. Looking forward to making a difference in my students lives,
Thanks Denise. Have a great year!
‘Don’t get me wrong, it saddens me that a teacher can actually get fired if he or she offends someone by praying aloud or teaching scripture in a public school. It sickens me that some school systems (not mine) have taken the phrase “under God” out of their daily Pledge of Allegiance. It frustrates and sometimes angers me that other religions seem to be tolerated so quickly, yet Christianity simply will not be tolerated in some public school systems. It makes me want to cry out “What are we doing?”’
I apologize for being the voice of dissent here, but I have to ask: do you truly believe that that there’s some kind of War on Christianity ala Fox News? Do you really think your beliefs are under attack, that secularists are seeking to make it illegal to worship in a church or in the privacy of your own home? You claim that other religions are tolerated while your beliefs are being suppressed, but what schools are seeking to replace Christian prayer with Muslim or Hindu ones? Where are we trying to take down Bible verses in favor of those from the Koran or the Eddas?
I applaud your desire to live by your beliefs and show your conviction by walking the walk as well as talking the talk. This more than anything else is what secularists strive to achieve: where people feel free to live according to the dictates of their conscience without imposing them on others. Otherwise where does it end? It’s frequently claimed that the United States is a Christian nation by virtue of the majority, but Christianity isn’t a monolithic belief system. THere are over forty-two thousand different sects of Christianity, many of whom directly contradict each other. Some deny the divinity of Jesus while others not only uphold the doctrine of the Trinity but the unassailable truth of predestination. Which of these doctrines should become the law of the land? Yours? Theirs? Who decides? Whomever happens to be in the majority at the moment?
The point of enforcing secular values in our schools and governments is not to suppress your beliefs. The point is to make sure that your majority beliefs do not suppress all others. You are always and have always been free to worship as you feel is right, but you were never supposed to have the freedom to make sure that others worship as you require.
Leading by example is fantastic. I utterly support this. Claiming persecution because we want to respect the right of others to follow different examples is something else entirely.
Well, I was actually claiming sadness, frustration, etc instead of persecution. I don’t pretend to be persecuted like Christians in other countries may be.
However, my point is when I am getting caught up in the “feelings” of my beliefs that are dear to my heart, I am going to make it a point to live my beliefs, which is to love as Jesus loves.
Have a great year if you’re a teacher or are involved in the school system!!! If not, still have a great year!:)
Leading by love. I think it is something we all can do. I’ll gladly join you. Great post.
Thank you!
Thank you for the timely reminder. I teach middle school (and admire those of you who teach kindergarten) and had a few of those “try to get you to dislike them” students last year. Your thoughts are a good boost as I get ready to head back. As for prayer in the classroom, I pray every day in a public school classroom. The fact that God and I are the only ones who know I am doing it doesn’t matter. Prayer is not supposed to be a public display anyway. Have a great year.
You have a great year too!