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5 Things I Want My Kids To Know About God

Psalm 145
When I became a parent there were all kinds of things that I wanted to teach my kids: to work hard, enjoy reading, and love each other… to make family recipes and work on DIY projects together.

But above all, I want to teach them the knowledge of God. I want my kids to know him — the one who made them and cares for them.  We should have a passionate desire to see our kids fall in love with the one true God.  But in order for this to happen, we must teach them.

Here are just five truths (of many!) that I want my kids to know about their God:

1. God is Holy.

The holiness of God is the central aspect of His character. Essentially it means that God is “other.”  He is not just different, but exalted, transcendent. To say God is holy is to say that he is unlike us in many ways.

God’s holiness not only reveals who he is (exalted and perfectly righteous), but it also reveals what I am not ( and what my kids are not). It shows us just how “different” God is, and it should make us be in awe of him and long for change in ourselves.

“Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God’s majesty, that has had a vision of God’s awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace.” – A.W. Pink

I want my children to see the absolute hugeness of our God and then marvel that a God like that would extend forgiveness and love toward them.

2. God is Your Creator.

Our God is the creator of all that is (Col. 1:16). He has made the world and everything in it with the power of his word. While this should lead to respect and care for this world, I don’t want my kids to simply be into “creation care.”  I want them to love what God has made, to love what God loves — especially as it applies to people made in his image.

That God made man in his own image gives every human being value and worth. There is no place for belittling, making fun of, or name-calling. There is no place for bullying someone who bears the image of God. I want my kids to stand up for anyone treated as something other than God’s handiwork.

3. God is Faithful.

Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty,
and your faithfulness surrounds you. – Psalm 89:8

The faithfulness of God is a completely comforting truth.  Our God never forgets, fails, or goes back on His word (Ps. 30:5; Ps. 12:6).

Our children need to understand that other people may fail them, go back on their word or deceive them, but God never will!  What he says he does. This leads me to emphasize two things to my kids that relate to God’s faithfulness.

One is, we can trust God. He is totally dependable and cannot be corrupted. He is loyal and constant.

The other is that we can trust God’s word.  God cannot lie and therefore every sentence, every word in the Bible is reliable and true. When he says that all things work together for the good of those who love him, we can rest in that truth wholeheartedly knowing that it comes from a faithful God.

4. God is Present.

That God is everywhere at once (omnipresent) is casually affirmed by many but seems to have little impact. However, this truth should be both humbling (because we are unworthy of being in his presence) and comforting (for he remains with us forever because of Jesus Christ). In fact, there is nothing I can do to escape his presence.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. – Proverbs 15:3

When our little ones are afraid of the dark, we must reassure them with the truth that God’s eyes are on them, that he is near to them, and that darkness is as bright as day to God (Ps. 139:12). When they are lonely they can take comfort in the truth that God is so close that they can speak to him and he listens intently to what they say. He sees every tear and hears every laugh because he is with them always.

5. God Saves.

Everything about God is important to learn and know, but the fact that God saves is the most joyful of all of them. If God were the holy, faithful creator who is always present with us but did not save, it would be of little value to us.

But this wonderful God has extended his arm of grace to those who would believe. He has promised to remove the penalty for sin of those who look to his Son, Jesus Christ, who accepted the penalty for us. God turns no one away who comes to him through Christ. This good news must be shared with our kids as often as possible. They must know about the sinfulness of sin, but they must also know about the amazing sacrifice of Christ on behalf of those who repent.

We were made by and belong to a God who is more beautiful and amazing than we can imagine. We have been given a glimpse of God’s greatness in his word and are called, as parents, to share this knowledge with the children God has entrusted to us with the hope that they will be changed.

Blessings,
Jen

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