One of the blessings I look forward to every summer is extra time with our eleven grandchildren. Summer is a good time for grandparents to create special memories!
Being with our grandchildren always reminds me of the innocence and impressionability of young hearts. Our grandchildren are ages three to thirteen, and every one of them needs love and acceptance, reassurance and guidance.
Satan is waging an all-out assault on the hearts and minds of children. This summer, that assault has been less-veiled than ever before. From the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring a group that performs lewd and blasphemous acts in front of children, to Target selling LGBTQ-themed clothing in toddler sizes, to multiple states setting in motion legislation to allow confused children to have surgeries to mutilate their bodies without their parent’s knowledge, children are under attack.
Now, more than ever before, children need parents and grandparents who purposefully and persistently pour truth into their lives.
Now, more than ever before, children need parents and grandparents who purposefully and persistently pour truth into their lives. Click To Tweet
What are some of the truths children need to hear over and over?
1. I Am Uniquely Created
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:14)
The world is telling children that they are an accident—a random result of nature. They are being told that everything about them, including their gender, is up to them to decide and to form.
Those are overwhelming—not to mention untrue—thoughts for children to bear. The truth is that every child is uniquely created by God with love and purpose for their lives. Nothing about them is an accident.
Children need to frequently hear that God loves them, purposefully designed them, and has a special purpose for their lives.
Children need to frequently hear that God loves them, purposefully designed them, and has a special purpose for their lives. Click To TweetBefore I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
2. I Am Lovingly Accepted
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)
Children are most vulnerable to the lies of Satan when they do not feel accepted by their parents.
Children are most vulnerable to the lies of Satan when they do not feel accepted by their parents. Click To TweetThroughout the New Testament, God frequently assures His children that they are fully accepted in Christ. When we become sons and daughters of God, we are His forever, and He never holds us at arms length to prove our worth.
Our own children and grandchildren also need to know that they are lovingly accepted just as God made them. Today’s world promises children acceptance if they will “be brave” to change something about themselves—such as their gender or sexual identity. We need to assure them that we love them as they are. We don’t wish they had a different personality, gender, age, or any other characteristic that is part of who God made them. They need to know that we delight in and fully accept them for who they are.
3. I Am Patiently Directed
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (Ephesians 5:1)
Children of every age need guidance. And they need to know their parents and grandparents care enough about them to provide that guidance.
Patiently directing children tells them they are valuable to you, that you believe they are worth your time, and that there is a future for them that is good and worth pursuing.
Patiently directing children tells them they are valuable to you, that you believe they are worth your time, and that there is a future for them that is good and worth pursuing. Click To TweetIgnoring or continually losing your patience with children tells them that they are a nuisance and that all you care about is that they don’t disturb you.
God never designed children to raise themselves. He gave them fathers and mothers and grandparents that these adults might invest in children through teaching and instruction and love.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. (Psalm 32:8)
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
Tell a Child the Truth Today
As children across America are going back to school this month, I urge every Christian parent and grandparent to regularly and persistently tell the children in your family these three truths:
- God made you special.
- I love you just the way God made you.
- I am here to help teach and prepare you for the good plans God has for your life.
And if you serve in any aspect of children’s ministry—bus, Sunday school, Christian school—teach these truths to the children you serve. Every child needs to know these three truths.
If you serve children in any capacity—as a parent, grandparent, teacher, Sunday school teacher...—tell these three truths to those children over and over again: Click To Tweet
