The LEArning Curve

March is coming, and it holds the first official day of Spring. It’s a day many people look forward to because psychologically it means many things—flowers, warm air, birds, green grass, fun in the sun. It’s a daythat students and teachers happily anticipate.

Your students enjoy spring because it means they can get outside. You often find them playing in fields, looking for bugs and other “flowers” (too often, they find weeds instead). Sometimes they find a three-leaf clover, better known as a shamrock, and bring it to you as a gift. That is a perfect time to explain how it has three parts and to tie it to the Trinity.

The word “Trinity” can be explained to little ones as tri-unity, meaning three in unity as one. Though each person is distinct from the other two, they do not act separately. What the Father does, the Son and Holy Spirit do as well. They act as one. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)

The first of the three is God. Explain that God is, was, and always will be. No one made God—He has always existed. “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90: 1-2)

Telling your students that Jesus is God in human flesh is the next part. “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)  

Go on to tell that when Jesus left the earth, there was no longer any physical sign of God. Instead, the Holy Spirit is here to guide us. Although it isn’t Pentecost, you can point to its story in scripture to help teach about the Holy Spirit.

As you teach about the Trinity to your students, you can use the Bible to prove each part of the Trinity to your students. This is a good time to share with your students that the Bible has the answers to many of our questions in life. It isn’t just a book full of interesting stories, but instead it is one way that God communicates with His people even to this day.

Remember, it’s the small things in life that often can teach the most powerful lessons in life. Take time to smell the clover around you and your students and use those teachable moments when they appear (especially in Spring).