Declaring Life: I Am a Child of God - Living as Beloved Sons and Daughters
Kids Alive Life Declaration Series
For many people, the word family carries deep emotion.
For some, it brings comfort and safety. For others, it carries loss, distance, or pain. And for many, it is a mixture of longing and caution — something deeply desired, yet hard to trust.
Beneath those experiences often rests a quiet question:
Where do I truly belong?
Who will care for me?
Am I allowed to take up space here?
This is why the identity truth “I am a child of God” matters so deeply. It speaks to the human need for belonging — not as something to earn, but as something lovingly given.
Welcomed Into God’s Family
Scripture offers this promise clearly:
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” — John 1:12
This verse tells us something essential about God’s heart. Becoming a child of God is not a reward for good behavior or spiritual effort. It is an act of grace. God chooses to adopt, welcome, and claim His children as His own.
To be a child of God means belonging to His family — fully, securely, and permanently. It means being given the rights of a son or daughter: the right to love, care, guidance, protection, and relationship.
Let’s Reflect: What emotions surface when you hear that God invites you to be His child?
What a Good Father Provides
For those whose experiences with earthly parents were painful or inconsistent, the idea of God as Father may feel unfamiliar or even difficult. Yet Scripture consistently reveals God as a good and loving Father — one who does not abandon, neglect, or harm His children.
A good Father:
Protects — offering safety and refuge
Provides — meeting needs with care and faithfulness
Guides — teaching what is good and true
Corrects with love — not to shame, but to grow
Stays present — even when His children struggle
God’s fatherhood is steady and compassionate. His love is not withdrawn when mistakes are made. Instead, He draws nearer, inviting His children to learn, heal, and grow.
Let’s Reflect: Which aspect of God as Father feels hardest — or most hopeful — for you to believe?
Our Purpose as God’s Children
Being a child of God is not only about receiving love; it is also about becoming who God created us to be.
As His children, we are invited to grow into His likeness — learning how to live and love as He does. This growth is not rushed or forced. It unfolds over time, shaped by relationship, trust, and grace.
Our purpose as God’s children includes:
Learning to love others as we have been loved
Reflecting God’s kindness, mercy, and faithfulness
Growing in character and truth
Participating in God’s work of healing and restoration in the world
This is not about perfection. It is about formation — becoming more rooted in love and less driven by fear.
Let’s Reflect: What might God be inviting you to grow into as His child right now?
Growing Together in God’s Family
God never intended His children to grow alone. When Scripture speaks of God’s family, it also speaks of the Church — a community of believers learning how to live as brothers and sisters.
Being part of God’s family means growing alongside others:
Practicing patience, forgiveness, and humility
Offering encouragement and receiving support
Learning to belong, even when relationships feel challenging
Discovering that faith grows best in community
At Kids Alive International, this truth is lived out every day: healing and growth happen in safe, loving relationships — not in isolation.
Let’s Reflect: Where has God placed you to grow alongside other children of God?
Holding On to What Is True
“I am a child of God” does not erase hardship or loss. But it offers something unshakable beneath it all: a secure place in God’s family.
Each time this truth is remembered, spoken, or practiced, it replaces fear with belonging and isolation with connection. Over time, it becomes a foundation that supports renewal of the heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Identity work is slow. But it is sacred.
For those who want to explore this truth more deeply, Kids Alive International offers free resources designed to support reflection and growth:
📘 Renewing Identity — exploring core identity truths that foster healing and restoration 🌿 Rooted Values — understanding how identity grows into everyday values
Each resource invites readers to continue the journey of becoming — rooted in love, shaped by grace, and grounded in the unchanging truth that they are children of a good Father.
COVID-19 presented many challenges for the seven Kids Alive schools in the Dominican Republic. Our first priority became keeping the children, their families, and our employees safe from a new and deadly disease about which little was known. Secondly, when schools were closed and the country locked down in mid-March, we had the challenge of continuing the education and emotional care for 2,000 impoverished children with difficult family situations. Finally, with massive unemployment (we estimate 80-90% of our school families are currently unemployed with no savings or credit), and no school breakfasts and lunches, many of our children and their families quickly began to suffer from lack of food.
Our staff responded quickly and creatively. We created protocols for handwashing, social distancing, wearing masks, and sanitizing groceries, and began distributing information to families in various ways, including video clips they could watch on cell phones. Additionally, our teachers and counselors worked with parents to get classroom study material, family devotionals, and other activities into the home as well as help create healthy routines for the children with so much time in their little homes. Furthermore, for a limited time we transitioned in one aspect to a relief organization, and with the help of generous donors grew our food distribution to feed over 1,200 families regularly during the quarantine period which recently ended. Our relief work is likely to continue for the next several months on a lesser level as parts of the economy remain shut and many children and their families lack adequate food.
Recognition and presentation of the children's work affirm the children and their intellectual growth. Expanding a child's worldview beyond the walls of their family, community, and country is critical to their growth. This is especially true for the primary students on presentation day with fellow classmates exploring global topics like air pollution.
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