Wholesome values and Christian character traits come from God. God tells us what is good and helps us understand why it is good. It is He who gives us power to do right. (Ephesians 6:4)
David has said that the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart...they are more to be desired than Gold. (Psalm 19) The prophet Micah puts it this way: “He (God) has shown thee, oh man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee....” (Micah 6:8) The Bible clearly gives the moral standards required for successful living. (1 Peter 1:16) It is God who defines the virtues. Without Him values would be subject to personal preference and private interpretation.

REBIRTH identifies what are God’s ideals and why they should be followed. But they only become a value or a character trait when they are fully adopted into our lives. The values and character traits that are presented in REBIRTH will help build a bank of moral knowledge for the students. But they will not be values until students accept them and act on them from their hearts understanding their foundation in God’s word.
Values go deeper than behavior. Children can be taught to exhibit moral-like behavior from fear and force. They may do it only as long as the externals force them to perform that way. (2 Timothy 3:5) Christian values go to the motivation and reasons behind the behavior, training the child to freely choose to act right, for good reason. Man may only look on the outside, but God knows our hearts. (1 Samuel 16:7) The ideal is for the students’ inner attitudes of their hearts to be trained to know and follow God’s way. This will effect behavior even when no one is watching or cares what they do.

But this cannot happen simply by good training and education although that is important. Even the best of Bible knowledge will not be sufficient. The students will need the saving grace of God in their lives to be changed. It is only through the Spirit of God and conversion that true character development can happen. It is vital that value education and faith be nurtured together so the student can successfully build character.
As REBIRTH is used as a means of helping students become what God wants them to be, it is vital that it be placed in the context of faith. “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:1)
Children in the early grades may not have fully developed moral concepts like adults. They may need to first learn how to act morally and later learn the reasoning behind it. But the ultimate goal will be for the student to develop a character founded on biblical precepts that will guide their behavior.
The teacher plays a vital role in this process. If the child is taught to follow the character traits by authoritarian force, he will find it hard to internalize the guiding principles. If the teacher takes a permissive approach the child will develop an attitude of tolerance to wrong. (Ecclesiastes 8:11) A teacher cannot afford to equate tolerance to wrong with being kind or loving to the student. The child will soon loose respect for the teacher and find it difficult to develop moral excellence.

The teacher’s walk with God is essential to his/her witness and moral instruction. Students will not adopt values that are spoken, but not believed or practiced by the teacher. The truly converted teacher will be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish great things for the Lord in training children to have moral excellence.