Talking With Your Kids About Salvation
As I write this article, I’m looking out the window at my backyard. There are remnants of our last snowstorm scattered here and there. The grass is a dull, lifeless brown, and the trees are bare. It’s not the most beautiful scene to observe, but I know what’s to come. Spring, with its glorious burst of new life, is on the horizon!
This time of year, as winter gives way to spring and we prepare to celebrate Easter, we’re reminded of the beauty of the new life we find in Jesus. His death and resurrection stand as the turning point in history when sin and death were defeated, offering all who choose to accept the gift of salvation a life that’s forever changed.
The desire of a parent’s heart is for their children to make a decision to accept God’s gift of salvation and to experience the fullness of His love as they walk with Him. My husband and I both grew up in church. As teens and young adults, we were actively involved in the churches we attended. We participated in outreach ministries and had experience sharing the gospel with others. But when we married and became parents, we didn’t feel qualified or confident when it came to sharing faith with our own children. We needed the Lord’s wisdom, resources from the church, and the support of others along the way to learn how to invest spiritually in our children’s lives.
In the spring, when nature moves past the barrenness of winter and into the delight of new life, embrace the opportunity to focus on His death and resurrection with your kids. Share God’s story of love with them and how it has impacted your life and others around you, even if you feel like my husband and I did when we were young parents.
The rest of this blog offers an example of things you can say as you talk to your precious ones about salvation. The Lord will always take our efforts, even if we feel inadequate on our own, and use them for our children’s good and His glory. He simply asks us to be faithful to the responsibility He’s given us to be the spiritual leaders in our homes.
God’s Great Love Story
In the Beginning
God is the Creator of every living thing…including you! He is perfect in all His ways. This means that all He does and all He says is 100% right and true. When He created Adam and Eve and the beautiful place they lived, every single thing down to the tiniest, microscopic detail was perfect, including the relationship Adam and Eve had with God and with one another. He provided everything they would ever need, and He loved them.
Sin Changes Everything
But then, one day, Adam and Eve chose to listen to a different voice instead of God’s, the voice of Satan, who loves evil and hates God. Adam and Eve decided to do something God told them never to do. Their disobedience is called sin. Because God is holy, sinful people cannot be in His presence. Adam and Eve’s sin separated them from God and from the perfect home He created for them. From that moment on, every person is born with sin in their hearts, and that sin hurts God, hurts others, and hurts themselves. No matter how hard we try, no matter how good we act, none of us can ever fix what sin has broken.
But God
The only thing that sin never changed from the time God created the world and everything in it until today is God Himself. He has never stopped loving us, never stopped wanting what’s best for us, and never stopped hoping for us to be part of His family. So, at just the right moment, He sent the best gift of all time to the world–His son, Jesus. Throughout His life on earth, Jesus never sinned. Because of that, He was the only one who could once and for all pay the price of sin, making a way for us to be with God the way Adam and Eve were in the very beginning. Jesus did this when He died on the Cross and came back to life again.
The Invitation
Through Jesus, your sins can be forgiven, and you will never be separated from God again. Through Jesus, you can have a joy-filled life even though the world we live in is still broken by sin that causes things like sickness, pain, sadness, and death. Through Jesus, you can know God is always by your side, no matter what. Through Jesus, you can spend eternity with God in a place He has promised to make brand new and perfect once again. All of these things and more are God’s gift to you. It’s not something you can ever work hard enough to earn; it’s free because He loves you more than you can ever imagine!
Your Response
Saying yes to God’s invitation to accept His gift of salvation means that you believe these things:
- We all have sinned against God and need a Savior. (Romans 3:23)
- We all deserve to be separated from God forever because of our sins. (Romans 6:23)
- But God, who loves us more than we can imagine, sent Jesus to take our place and endure the punishment we deserve. (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
- Jesus died, was buried, and came back to life again, just like God’s Word said He would. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
- Because of what Jesus did, all our sins can be forgiven, and we can have eternal life if we believe in Him and know that He is our Savior. (John 1:12, John 5:24)
If you want to receive God’s wonderful gift and have the new life He’s promised us through Jesus, you can talk to Him about it. Tell Jesus that you believe in Him as your Savior and want the new life the Bible promises. Let Him know that from now on, you choose to turn away from sin and toward Him. Ask Him to forgive your sins and give you eternal life. Thank Him for who He is and what He's done for you.
After you’ve done these things, you are a Christian, part of God’s family forever! He loves you and wants to teach you so much more about Him, how to love Him, and how to be more like Him. You can get to know the Lord better by reading your Bible, praying, listening to Him, and learning together with your family and with other Christians at church. Welcome to God’s wonderful family!
