Everyday Grace

May, 2006

by: Brock Bolde

As parents, you and I have a great responsibility to train up our kids in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). This is a directive from God and one that each and every one of us should take very seriously. In an effort to take this directive seriously, we must insure that we are talking with our children everyday about the Lord. We must be engaging them with the Word of God such that they can treasure it in their hearts and apply it to their lives. In Psalm 119:11, the Psalmist writes:

Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

Helping them to do this will not come naturally, for all children have the same problem — they are spiritually depraved; they are born sinners (Psalm 51:5). So how do we help these sin-cursed bundles of joy move from being at enmity with God to basking in his grace-filled joy? We talk with them everyday about the grace of God. We help them to understand the goodness of God such that they might be drawn to the foot of the cross in awe and wonder. We make sure that they understand that it is by grace that they can be saved, not works. We take steps to insure that they understand the Gospel — that Christ died for them; that in Christ’s death a holy God was satisfied and accepted it as the necessary payment for their sins; that Christ rose again from the grave thus giving a similar hope to all who come to Him in faith. This is the Good News that God has given to us and this is the Good News that we must pass along to our children. There is no Gospel apart from Jesus Christ – there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Our children must know this. They must come face to face with this truth and we must be the ones to teach it to them. There should never be a day that goes by in which you are not engaging your child in some way with the truth of this message.

As parents, we have the opportunity to teach our children constantly about the grace of God. One of the ways that this is most readily done is when our children sin. By helping our children to see their sin, and their inability to overcome it on their own, we can help them to better understand why Jesus had to die. By helping them to understand that Jesus did for them what they could not do for themselves, we are teaching them the Gospel message. When our children fall short of the glory of God, we should help them to cry out to God and acknowledge their need for Him. We must teach them to go to God and ask for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9); we must teach them early on that this is the Christian way of life and that apart from the power of Jesus’ we are all helpless and slaves to our sin (Romans 6:6). But this is not the only way that we can teach our children about the grace of God. We can also teach them about God’s grace through their various accomplishments. Instead of being so quick to praise our children as if they have manifested this greatness in themselves or thus received it from us, we should be teaching them to acknowledge God’s grace in their particular achievement. Our children need to realize that it is by God’s grace that they are able to hit a homerun; it is by God’s grace that they are able to learn a musical instrument; it is by God’s grace that they are able to memorize Scripture; it is by God’s grace that they are able to do any of the things that they do (1 Corinthians 4:7). God has given them that ability and instead of stealing God’s glory by praising themselves, you and I must teach our children to give the glory where it is due — to God!

Our God is a great God and through His grace we can help our children to come to that realization. As you and I interact with our children on a daily basis, let us point them to the One whose love is far greater and more satisfying than ours. Let us point them to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ — every day!