Within the first five minutes of walking into the school where I work as a substitute teacher, someone invariably asks me the question, “Who are you today?” 

On any given day, I may be subbing for a first-grade teacher, a P.E. teacher, a music teacher, a fifth-grade teacher, a middle-school band teacher, a high-school English teacher…and the list goes on. 

But am I really any of those aforementioned people? 

No, I am not qualified to teach any of those subjects. 

My degree is in marketing, not in education, and I don’t have a teaching certificate. But yet, can I teach? 

The school where I work is a small PK–12 Christian School, which allows me opportunities to have Christian teaching moments with the children. Recently, I offered a mini character eraser for any child in the first-grade art class I was subbing in, whose name I did not have to write on the whiteboard for misbehavior. 

Early into the class, I wrote “Johnny’s” name on the board. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.) 

Johnny was clearly upset. Halfway through the class, I whispered to teary-eyed Johnny, “If you behave yourself for the rest of the class, I’ll erase your name.” 

Johnny was a model student for the remainder of the class! I happily erased his name. After I handed Johnny his eraser at the end of class, “Sally” said, “I thought Johnny couldn’t have an eraser.” 

“Johnny changed his behavior, so I gave him a second chance. It’s just like when we make a mistake, Jesus gives us another chance!” 

Hopefully this interaction was a moment of learning for her about grace and that she’ll always remember that Jesus loves her and forgives her even when she does something wrong. 

I say when—not if—she does something wrong, because scripture tells us in Romans 3:23 that “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Giving all honor and glory to God, I was a “real teacher” at that moment. 

Now back to the first paragraph! The next time someone asks me, “Who are you today?” I should say “I’m a child of God!” 

Galatians 3:26–28 states, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” 

But if I say I’m a child of God, then I should act like His child. 

Do I act like His child when my blinker is on and the driver in the car next to me won’t speed up or slow down to allow me to change lanes? Or when I’ve been in the doctor’s waiting room for over an hour after I was on time for my appointment? Or when I’m irritated at the woman in front of me with more than 10 items in the express lane at the grocery store? Or when someone sits in my pew at church? 

Sometimes I look and act like a child of God, but I ashamedly admit that there are times when I look and act more like a small, spoiled child. We are not perfect in this flesh, but it’s my goal that others will always see by my actions that I am a child of God. We read in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

I thank God for His grace! Ephesians 2:8–9 tells us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Who are you today? 

By His grace, you’re a child of God!

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.

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