This past Sunday our pastor encouraged us to teach Big Truths, like the sovereignty of God, for example, to our children while they are still little. Little children are less resistant to Big Truths. Adults often resist Big Truths because they “haven’t ever heard THAT before – therefore it can’t be true.” It’s uncomfortable to admit we may not be aware of something that critical. If it were really TRUE – we would surely have been taught that when we were small, right?
Wrong.
Which brings me back to the point. Teach Big Truths to your children. Really, there are only two alternatives. We either give them small truths they will grow out of – or we give them Big Truths they will grow into.
He gave the following example to illustrate this:
Suppose you have two children fighting. (I know. I know. This is a rare occurrence in my home too, but try to use your imagination here.) Two children are fighting, and one slugs the other one in the shoulder.
You can do one of two things. You can say, “Now Johnny, why would you do such a thing? Don’t you realize THAT ISN’T NICE????!!!!” Johnny hangs his head. That isn’t nice. He never thought of THAT before. He thought he was doing his sibling a walloping favor.
OR you could say, “Johnny, your brother is made in the image of God. Think about that for a minute. Made in the image of GOD.” Johnny stands and stares, unsure of what to think or say. “You just punched someone made in the image of GOD.”
Now whether or not Johnny understands the full scope of that Big Truth at that moment in time is somewhat irrelevant. The main thing is – you need to expose him to it many, many times. As he grows up, it will become a part of how he thinks. A natural part of the fabric of his life. And because it is a Big TRUTH, it will change him and set him free.
Can you think of some other Big Truths that are important to teach children while they are young?
Love this. Excellent point. Teaching the big truths is something that we find comes relatively naturally as we have regular family devotions out of a NKJV Bible rather than a storybook. We explain as we go, and there’s a lot of exposure to big truths.
One Big Truth that I think is especially important to expose young children to is the idea of persecution. As part of our whole-family discussions around the Word of God, even our very young children have heard that many Christians have died, been beaten, thrown in prison, lost their families, lost their jobs because of their faith. And we tell them that even in our country where things aren’t that bad, there will still be those that don’t treat them kindly because of their faith.
Heather (homeschooling mom to 7)
Ah, Ha! I’m laughing at 7 in the morning with only half a cup of coffee drank so far! Totally saving this for reference.
It’s silly, though. I’ve never thought of it that way. We are having anger issues with our 5yo mistreating her 2 & 1yo sisters. I’m SO going to say this next time instead of “be nice to your sisters!”.
This is a huge issue in my home right now. Thank you for being specific and providing an example. This was incredibly helpful! I never knew what to do when I got to the staring, not- understanding part. It just felt weird, like I was doing something wrong, so I would default back to the “secular” way and think, “I’ll save that for when they’re older.” God bless!
Also, more of these very specific how-to’s would be awesome! Like a series! Lol
Yes, I second what Leigh said about more how-to’s being wonderful. With two siblings being unkind, we’ve talked about treating others the way you would want to be treated and the fact that we’d supposed to be kind to enemies that pesecute us, and so family even more. But, I’ve never thought to bring into it the image of God factor. It’s nice to see other ways of looking at things.
I really like this idea. I’ve been thinking about how we can focus more on “loving God” rather than “being nice.” Since the greatest commandment is about loving God and that comes out in our actions, I could try saying, “How did the way you just..(treated your sister, responded to me, took the bigger cookie, etc) show love to God?” Hmmmm…Loving God will result in good character but good character doesn’t always equate to loving God.
YES!
Good post!
That was a quotable quote! Love it. I think of one of the Tripps –Ted or Paul — advising reading the prophets again and again to your teens. (We read them even younger.) They will be impressed with how disobedience always brings God’s judgement and obedience always brings God’s blessing. (This spoken to those he had brought out of bondage.)