As I put my 2.5 year old daughter to bed last night, I prayed, “...And thank you for Jesus who died on the cross for our sins…” - Lily then interjected her own desire to pray for something, “And the park…” -- So I added that, “Thank you, Lord, that we could go to the park…”
Then Lily interrupted the prayer with her own confession, “I had a bad attitude at the park.”
I said, “Yes, you did.”
She said, “That’s sin.”
I was impressed by her acknowledgment and said, “Yes. Yes...it is. Let’s talk to Jesus about that…”
And so we did. I modeled the prayer for her saying we were sorry for having a bad attitude, and thanked God for forgiving us, and asked for His help to have a good attitude the next time.
Earlier the same day, we were at lunch with my parents after church, and my husband had to take Lily to the car to have a talk about her “bad attitude.” He talked to her about how it was sin.
And that night at bedtime, she was obviously still thinking about it and wanting to figure it out.
Ours kids may not understand everything about God or the world, but neither do we.
I think they understand a lot more than we realize. However, they can’t begin to understand what we don’t share, or what they don’t experience.
Teaching children truths about God requires so much repetition, and intentionality, and ultimately the grace of God. But even if it's just a conversation surrounding correction, or a prayer at bedtime, it is all of eternal value and it is the most important thing we do as parents.
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