The greatest joy a parent can have is when their kids love Jesus! I have dreams for my kids to grow up and be strong, hard workers, who have an ear for music, and our successful in all that they do. I want them to marry and have kids of their own and stay close to family. But above all this I want my kids to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, repent of their sins and seek after God all the days of their lives.
I have a great responsibility as a parent not to just take them to church, so they hear the gospel, but to teach them myself. But how? How do we teach our children the way they should go? Is it not God who does the work in each individuals life? I don’t want them force them or feel like I’m pushing religion on them. How do we let them make their own choice while also taking on the responsibly of teaching them what’s right and wrong?
Here are five ways I bring up the gospel constantly in conversation with my kids. Teaching them to as the scripture has taught me. But first! What is the Gospel?
What is the Gospel?
The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ! When God created the world he created man to be in perfect fellowship with Him. Knowing God fully and glorifying Him in life in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve sinned being separated from God, for God cannot dwell with sin.
Now, we all have sinned, we all deserve separation from God and the punishment of hell. But while we were still sinners Jesus, God in flesh came and dwelt among us sinful men. Living a perfect, sinless life, was tortured and killed on a cross. Jesus took the punishment we sinners deserved freeing us from Gods wrath.
Then, on the 3rd day after his death, Jesus rose up from the grave. Sin and death had not power over Jesus because he had never sinned. Now Jesus offers us new risen life through His death and resurrection.
If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Making us alive together in Christ, free from sin and one with God again.
As We Walk by The Way
In Deuteronomy 6:7 the Lord commands us as parents to teach our children diligently. Talking with our kids when we sit, walk, rest and rise up. Teaching our kids in all that we do to give glory and honor to our Lord. So how to we bring God into our daily conversations? Here are a few ideas.
When we sit.
When we sit to eat a meal we pray, thanking God for his provision in our lives with this meal. Praying before meals help establish in your kids hearts thankfulness towards God as well as remembering its God we relay on for all that we have. He is provider.
When we sit together and relax on the couch, watching a movie or reading a book. When something comes up in a show or story that is God honoring we point it our with conversation. “Oh that is so cool, it reminds my of when God….” “Wow, Gods works are amazing.” “Did you see how that person was loving like God is?” Point out and ponder with your kids His awesomeness.
Point out when we see things that do not honor our God. “Oh, yeah, that bad guy does not love God”. “That person was not kind, do you think they will be punished as God punishes the wicked or will they be forgiven as God forgives?” “What does the bible say about that?” Point out and ponder on Gods judgment and mercy.
As we sit and watch the world, pondering the things in the world, teach your kids view all things through the bible. Though the eyes of God. What does God say about these things we see and how should we think about them?
One day my 6 year old ask why is was so windy. I told him that God made the wind and he uses it to move seeds around and plant new plants. And although that is not the only work wind does my son now understands God is a work through nature. He sees the wind and does not complain but stands in awe of Gods awesome deeds.
When we walk.
When we walk by the way, while we are in action, motion, doing things, going places we explain to our kids why. “We go to church… to learn more about God, worship Him and encourage others.” “Doing our chores, we to take care of what God has given us, just like God takes care of us.” “We do our homework to grow in knowledge so we can understand God word and the world he created, God is wise and calls us to wisdom.” “We get to play with our friends because God loves fellowship and friendships, and God is the best friend we could ever have.”
When asked why we do something take the time to explain how what we do reflex Gods character. Not just because God wants us to do these things but why God wants these things for us. Motivate your kids do walk and act in a way that honors God, not themselves, by giving them Gods reasons behind our actions.
When we rest.
When we lay down to rest. Teach your kids that not to fear or worry by resting in the Lord. We pray before we go to sleep. Giving thanks for the day and asking for peace for the night. We read the psalm together and talk about how God is our shield and fortress. How we rest by streams of water that God provides. When my enemy surrounds me, I trust in God.
Our children are going to face many hardships in life, just as we do. I want my child to rest in the Lord, trust in Him. First, I get to show an example of that when I go through a trial. I myself must trust in the Lord and rest in Him, for He is good. Then I tell my children, when things don’t go their way, that God is good even when He takes away.
Teaching children trust takes a long time as we often have to wait for the end result. The situation I find most common is when my kids are hungry but lunch is not ready yet. When I tell them to wait I have an opportunity to ask “do you trust that I will make your lunch at the right time?” “if you truly trust me then I want you to wait patiently”.
The best thing you can do is come through with every promise you make to your kids. So make them wisely. Teach them to trust you and point them directly to God. “You can trust me because you know I love you and I love God. God loves you more then I can love, you can trust Him.”
When we rise up.
When we rise up in the morning we thank God for His beautiful day. We read our bible at breakfast. Refreshed from the peace that God gives, we go to work and play throughout our day.
Again, just as we walk by the way, we raise up and do the actions God has prepared for us. When we raise up we have the opportunity to teach our children that our work and actions are for the glory of the Lord. Colossians 3:23 say “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”.
To share the gospel with your kids you can ask them “why do we work unto the Lord?” Encourage conversation about what God has done for us, creating us, providing for us, loving us. And what do we do in return? Well, we sin. We don’t obey, we don’t love, we don’t trust. Yet, he sent his son to save us from our sin and give us a new heart that loves, obeys and trust in God. He is so good to us. So good he even gives us the opportunity to work raise up and work with him for his glory and our benefit.
So whatever we do. Do it unto the Lord. For he is good and worthy of our praise through our raising up to action.
Remember
Remembering daily
Psalm 77 calls us to remember his might deeds and wondrous works. Daily we can encourage our kids to remember the gospel as we remind them of Gods might deeds in our daily life.
Giving credit to God for the things he has done in our lives is a great way to start reminding them of His gospel. You can remind them every time their little ‘owies’ heal that God is the one who heals us just like he healed people in the bible. We remember that Jesus controls the weather, just like he did the storms in the bible. God makes everything grow, just like when he created everything.
Remember the holiday’s
We remember Gods great works in all the little things, while also taking special days to remember special works. In the Old Testament God gave the Israelites instructions on when and how to remember Gods works every sabbath as well as at every feast!
Those feast are like our holidays. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter. These holiday’s are easy to remember Jesus. We remember the day Jesus was born. On Thanksgiving, we gives thanks to God. We remember the resurrection of Christ on Easter. If those holiday’s are not about Christ in your household you are missing out on a great opportunity to be preaching the gospel with your kids.
But what about the other holiday’s? Halloween, Forth of July, even Presidents Day. Connecting the gospel to these holidays can be more difficult but will show your kids that God to be glorified in everyday.
Halloween can be a very dark night in some cultures. At our church we host “Lighthouses” at a members house in a trick-or-treating neighborhood. We have music, puppet shows, hot chocolate and lot and lots of candy. The goal is to show our kids and the town that Christ is the light of the world and in him there is not darkness. Even on your darkest night, Christ’s light will shine through.
Forth of July we celebrate our freedom in our country. Talk to your kids about freedom and what that means, ask them about the freedom from sin we have in Jesus. That’s the best kind of freedom.
Presidents Day, God places every leader in his place at the appointed time. We can thank God for his grace with good presidents and His righteous judgment with the not so good presidents. Bad leadership is a reminder from God that we need to turn from our own sins in repentance and turn to Christ and His leadership in our lives.
Remember, everyday, especially on Sundays and Holidays, Gods mighty works and share them with your children.
Forgiveness
Showing forgiveness towards your kids is probably the most important way to share the gospel with your kids. God forgives us and sends our sin as far as east is from the west, never to be heard from again. We need to love our kids in that same way.
Your kids do not need to earn forgiveness, just like we don’t earn it from God. Our sins have been forgiven and now we can forgive other just as Christ has forgiven us. Do not hold your kids sins against them. Once the punishment, discipline or grace has been taken place, forgiveness is granted and we move on.
Christ does not throw our old, forgiven sin back in our face to continually make us feel guilty but desires a restored relationship. We to must restore our relationship with our children, never making them feel guilty again for a sin that has been forgiven.
God Disciplines Those He Loves
Forgiveness and grace is so important when sharing the gospel but so is Gods wrath and discipline. Without a punishment for sin we cannot have forgiveness. A payment is required for justice sake and God is just. Thanks for be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who took the wrath upon himself at the cross for our sins.
When disciplining your kids the gospel should always be the center of that discipline. Reminding your kids that sin separates us from God. God is good and there is no good when separated from Him. Because you did wrong you need a punishment that goes with the wrong you did. Just like how God will punish the wicked for their wrong. But because of my love for you and Gods love for you, you will be punished so that you know what is wrong and stop to do right.
When you know what is wrong you can repent and say sorry. If you don’t know its wrong you will not repent. God forgives those who confess their sin. I too want to teach my kids to confess their sin so I can lavish forgiveness and love on them, just as Christ has done for me.
I want my kids to be quick to repent to God their sins. Not in fear that God will destroy them but knowing He will forgive them. I want them to remember that Christ died for that sin, confess it to the Lord and walk in freedom from sin.
We Love Because Christ Loved Us
When sharing the gospel with my kids I want them to know Christ love towards them and the type of love they ought to have towards one another. We have a great opportunity to share the gospel with our kids when teaching them how the ought to treat others. “No, we don’t hit, ask nicely for the toy. God loves you sister, so we should love your sister and be kind and patient.”
We want our kids to grown up Christ like so show them that God loves others and we should love whom God loves, in the same way God loves them. Jesus loved us so much he died on the cross for us for you sibling, for your friend. Now its our turn to lay our lives, our desires, our comfort down for our kids, and show them to do the same for others.
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