A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 2

December, 2004

by: Brock Bolde

This month we are continuing along on our 5 part series of actions you must take if you are to effectively G.U.I.D.E. your child through the snares and pitfalls of life. Last month, we looked at a parents need to Govern their child, not as an authoritative dictator, but rather as the loving shepherd that is exemplified for us in Christ.

An effective g.u.i.d.e must never forget that God has called them to Govern the one(s) that He has placed into their care. Having established this first action, we are now ready to proceed to the second action – a parent’s need to Unveil. This is something that is to be done in an effort to show children their need for salvation.

This is a critical place to start because it will be next to impossible for your child to be found unless he knows that he’s lost. When we look at salvation for children, we must begin with helping them to discover that they are desperately in need of a Savior. The best place for a parent to go for this is God’s Word – specifically Romans 3:10-18, 23. Let’s take a quick look at what these verses have to tell us about our condition:

1. “as it is written, There is none righteous, not even one;”
2. “There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;”
3. “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
4. “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips;”
5. “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;”
6. “Their feet are swift to shed blood,”
7. “Destruction and misery are in their paths,”
8. “And the path of peace they have not known.”
9. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

1. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

As we read these verses, I trust that all of us can clearly see that left to our own devices we are in bad shape. This is the truth of mankind and our children need to hear it. Now I don’t suggest that you go around telling a two–year–old that “their throat is an open grave” or that “their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

With younger children, you may just want to take them to Romans 3:23 to let them know that everyone has sinned – even you as their Mommy or Daddy have sinned – I assure you, they won’t need a whole lot of convincing when it comes to explaining this. But as your child gets older, they will need to know the depth of their depravity. I’m not going to give you an age as to when you should start sharing those other verses with them, you each know your child better than I do, but I wouldn’t wait until they’re out of elementary school. Again, you’re trying to help them to understand the fact that they’re lost.

You’ll need to help them to know that just because you and your spouse are Christians doesn’t mean that they are! You’ll need to Unveil their sin so that they can cry out to our gracious Savior for help! If you and I are going to effectively G.U.I.D.E. our children, we must nveil their sin and help them to understand their need for a Savior.

• A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 1
• A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 2
• A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 3
• A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 4
• A Parent's G.U.I.D.E., Part 5