The Jesus-Centered Home #5: The Truth Will Set Them Free

I don't know if I can say this any more plainly... as Christian parents, we need to tell our kids the truth.

IN OUR HOME
When they ask about where animals came from, and why people worship other gods, we tell them the truth. When they ask where babies come from (in more and more detailed ways as they grow older), or whether there are really talking fish, we tell them the truth. When they ask whether an unbeliever will be in Heaven, we tell them the truth. When they ask about death, we tell them the truth. Big or small, difficult or simple, we tell them the truth. We don't "try;" we do.

SMALL DOSES
Now, having said that, sometimes we might tell the truth in small doses. By that, I mean that when my oldest son, (then 3 years old) first asked how his baby sister got into my tummy, we told him that God used parts of mommy and daddy to make her. As he gets older, he continues to ask, "but how does the baby come out?"... and deeper and deeper questions. We handle this the same way we do with difficult Bible passages (say, concerning polygamy or Tamar sleeping with her father-in-law). We give short, but honest answers until his curiosity is satisfied. We don't feel pressured to give every detail of everything. But we make sure that the answers we're giving him are true. Not only does this protect our integrity, but it keeps us from giving him a paragraph of information when all he was wanting was a general idea about something.

BUT CAN WE PRETEND?
I feel like I should clarify, just in case someone think that we don't allow pretend, or that we don't read fictional stories. Of COURSE we do! This is a huge part of life around our house. Sometimes we're a family of bears. Sometimes a bear is chasing us through the house. Sometimes we read about talking bears. Of course we do all those things. They just don't think those things are true.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Ultimately, we want our kids to trust us. To know that we have been honest with them will give them a more sure foundation, so that as they grow and we present to them the case for trusting in Jesus Christ, they will know us to be truth-tellers.

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