by Dennis and Barbara Rainey
April 6
What Children Need to Know (Part Two) Romans 3:23,24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
I believe many parents today think their children are too young to understand the gospel. Yet, many children understand faith at an early age-our own six children all indicated they received Christ before the age of six. Many don't realize God has given them one of the finest tools for teaching spiritual truth-the family. Kids can learn about biblical truth through their relationships with their parents and their siblings.
Even the deepest truths of a book such as Romans can be brought to life to a child. For example, kids learn of their mistakes within a family. They see their own tendency to be selfish, to disobey and to sin within a family. You can explain a verse such as Romans 3:23 to them by using their selfishness as an example of what it means to "fall short of the glory of God."
Or take the concept of forgiveness. From a very early age, Barbara and I taught our children that, when they disobey a parent or hurt a brother or sister, they need to go and ask that person for forgiveness. They learned the process of forgiveness within the family, and we referred to those experiences when we explained the gospel to them. We hurt God with our sins, and we need to come to Him and ask for forgiveness.
I am not trivializing God's forgiveness. We just need to think as a child thinks and go back to the very basic elements of the faith. Once children understand their need for forgiveness, we then explain the basis for God's forgiveness-the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The family is a divine incubator for teaching spiritual truths. We need to use it when teaching the fundamentals of faith to our kids.
Prayer:
Together that God's Spirit would speak through you to touch your children's hearts with their need for Christ.
Discuss: Go through the previous devotion's list of concepts children need to understand to come to Christ. Then think of how you could illustrate those concepts to them through experiences within your family.