Ethics are defined as a system of moral principles, and as such, are very important to be taught to children. Western ethics, our moral principles, have developed out of a Christian context. The Bible teaches much about how people should live in relationship to our society.
Foundational concepts are found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and the moral standards set forth in these commands were applied by Jesus to Christians in the New Testament, where he fills out their meaning (Matthew 5:17-48).
Yet can these good moral principles from the Bible, or any ethics system based on them, be taught or sustained without the truth about Jesus and God’s enabling forming the foundation? The bar set by the Ten Commandments is high; Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount only sets the bar even higher, as he takes laws such as ‘do not murder’ and fills it out to include anger against others (Matthew 5:21-22).
The reality of the Christian life is that whilst we seek to live out the moral principles and ethics which Jesus commands of us, we also live in an acknowledgement that we are unable to do so perfectly. (Romans 3:23; Romans 7:10-11, 21-25; Romans 8:1-4). We rely on God’s strength and enabling to live in a way which is right and true towards others (Galatians 5:16-26).
Good moral principles and a system of ethics are important to teach children; but a more holistic and beneficial approach is surely to teach these ethics with the reference to a loving and perfect God, who does not just give us the standards to live by, but enables us to do so. That’s what’s on my mind.
What do you think?
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