Todays post is written by a blogging friend of mine, Desiré, from When You Rise. Please make her feel welcome!
Legalism has been a stronghold in my life that, until recently, has choked my understanding of the gospel. One of the greatest desires of my heart is for my boys to understand the gospel for the beautiful, undeserved gift that it truly is. And that they will not only know in their heads, but believe with all their hearts that they can do nothing to earn it. Salvation is a gift in its purest form… no strings attached.
One of the most explicit portions of Scripture that portrays this is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works so that no one can boast.”
But my oldest is only 3 1/2 years old. So that’s a conversation that should wait for later, right? How in the world could I bring a verse with the words and concepts like grace, faith, saved and “not by works” down to a level he could understand? I tell myself it’s better for him to learn the basic “stories” and save the “theology” for when he’s older. But the Bible says to have “faith like a child” so he must be able to get it on some level… I decided that even if it went right over his head, speaking the truths of the gospel to him certainly couldn’t hurt anything.
But wouldn’t you know, God surprised me with the spiritual sensitivity of a child who has yet to tie a shoe, ride a bike or bathe himself. If you’re interested in what a “deep conversation” with a 3 year old might look like, here’s a peek into what happened:
One day recently while he was playing, he brought out two wooden blocks and fashioned them into a cross shape. He had a small stuffed toy and he said, “Look, Mom! I made a cross and I’m pretending this is Jesus who died on it.” (In case you’re wondering if my kids walk around with halos and turning all their toys into biblical scenes and teachable opportunities, I assure you this was a rare moment and I seized it knowing that there might not be another like it for a while. 
We had been listening to the SEEDS of Faith version of Ephesians 2:8 and had a pretty good grasp on the words to the verse so I began to talk to him about what it meant. He understands that sin is when he does something wrong, so I asked him,
“Hey, when you don’t eat your vegetables and throw a fit, who gets in trouble?”
He pointed to himself.
“What about when you don’t clean up your toys? Does Mommy get in trouble?”
He giggled a little and said, “No.”
Then I said, “But Jesus loved you so much that he said, ‘Isaac, I’ll get in trouble for you.’ Because here’s the deal: Since you sin and since Mommy sins, we can’t go to heaven and live with God someday. That’s not good, is it?”
He shook his head, “No.”
But Jesus said that he would take our punishment and sin away. He did that when he died on the cross. Should he have gotten in trouble for what you did?”
“Uh-uh.”
“You’re right, but he did! And that’s…”
“GRACE!”
My jaw might have dropped a little. I had talked to him several times over the past few days about what grace meant but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought he was getting it. I could have laughed and cried all at the same time!
“Yes!!” I beamed. ”We get something we don’t deserve!”
I had planned a list of activities to do when we did a lesson on this verse, and though I hadn’t expected to do it at this moment, now seemed like the perfect time to talk more about it. So I had him climb up on our coffee table. (My boys always oblige when I tell them to climb on the furniture! ;)
I told him to lean forward and fall on me. He did it once and laughed and I told him to do it again. I moved back a little and this time he was nervous. Too nervous. I had to move forward a little to get him to do it again. I told him to fall on me and that I would catch him. He did and I began to ask him, “Did you think Mommy would let you fall? Did you believe that I was strong enough? Did you trust me to catch you?” He confirmed that he trusted me (at least when I was close enough -haha!) and I said, “Do you know what that’s called?”
“FAITH!”
Once again, humbling and exhilarating. I had thought through these activities ahead of time and was waiting for the right opportunity to use them, but I fully expected to have to tell him the answers to all this. Kids can certainly grasp more than we give them credit for… good and bad…
Finally, I wanted to drive home that he couldn’t do any of this on his own. I got him down from the coffee table and told him to get back up on it, but this time he wasn’t allowed to touch it. He couldn’t use his hands, legs or any part of his body to get on top of the table. I asked him,
“Can you think of a way to get up there without using your body?”
He thought for a minute and said,
“I have an idea! You can put me up there!”
Exactly! I explained that just like he couldn’t get on the table on his own, we can’t get to heaven on our own either. Jesus has to make the way for us. This part went TOTALLY over his head, but I was thankful to have made it this far in the conversation!
We also did a quick, fun project to help convey the idea that salvation is a “gift.” We decorated a cross with dot markers and added the words “GRACE” and “FAITH” to it. We placed them in a bag as a “GIFT” and they gave it to their Daddy when he came home. This gave my him an opportunity to explain what the greatest gift we’ve ever been given is and to review some of the things we had talked about a few days earlier.
None of this was elaborate and I would say the combined total for the conversation and the craft took 25 minutes (aside from listening to the cd of the verse over and over and over again). But I wouldn’t trade those 25 minutes for the world. And it’s a 25 minutes I hope to repeat often as I strive to help my boys understand just how incredible salvation is.
I have to preach the gospel to myself daily so I don’t forget to show it to them. Last fall, I found a beautiful reminder that I wear often. This bracelet from DaySpring with the words “by grace alone” adorns my wrist and sometimes helps me regain perspective at just the right time.
They’ve discontinued the bracelet, but we just happened to have snagged one up before they were gone and we’re giving it to one of you! Just leave a comment below, before midnight on Monday, May 21 and you’ll be automatically entered for the giveaway. We’ll pick a winner sometime on Tuesday, May 22. UPDATE 5/22: The winner of the bracelet is Heather H. Please email Desiré at [email protected] with your address so your bracelet can be shipped to you. Congratulations!
P.S. One of our favorite ways to memorize Scripture is using word cards to accompany verses that are put to music. Here’s a link to the cards pictured in the post above if you’d like to print your own! (You can choose to print just Ephesians 2:8 or Ephesians 2:8-9)
Desiré is a stay at home mom to two precious boys, Isaac (3) and Silas (2). She and her dear friend, Jen, blog at When You Rise about fun ways to teach kids the Bible, as well as some parenting lessons they’re learning along the way. You can also find them on Facebook or Pinterest.
Love this post! Love this blog! Thank you for encouragement & great ideas!
I love the way that you spoke deep concepts of theology in preschool language. Thanks for the practical ways to share grace with our children! I love this post!
Great post! I have two boys, 3 1/2 and 10 months and I am always wondering how to explain the Gospel to my 3 1/2 year old on his level. This truly inspired me that it is never too early! Thanks for sharing!
I love your ideas on sharing God’s truth to our kids! Love the bracelet - it is truly by God’s grace that I am where I am at in my life!
What an example this is to me. My son is only five months but my deepest desire is for the gospel to be displayed through all that I do with him. Playing, discipline, talking, etc. My biggest desire as his mom is to see him come to know, trust, and surrender to the Lord at a young age and use his life to bring glory to Him!!
Definitely great examples of how we can talk, and should be talking, with our kids about the Truth of Jesus Christ.
May we continue to go beyond “Jesus in our hearts” language….thanks for sharing!
I seem to always be beating myself up over having the right answers for such young minds. Did I brush him off? Was I serious enough for him to know this is important? Does he want to know more? Should I lay more on him? Your write-ups always give me a healthy reality check and are so very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write down every detail. It helps other sisters in Christ who also want the very best for their children.
Thank you for sharing. This is very encouraging!!
Funny how encouragement comes at the right time. I spent all day yesterday in skeptical thought about how much I could teach my 3yr old son about the gospel. I realize that my two main struggles, cynicism and legalism, keeps me fearing that my two boys will respond in the same way. I don’t want it to appear as brainwashing or forced, and it JUST hit me that I have to have faith that God will present himself purely to them even if I butcher it at times. I need to pray for both my intentions in sharing with them and their response to my sharing. Thanks Desire’ for this post.
Great ideas! I love to get help on how to share Jesus with my kids
Love this. I have teenagers all the way down to 19 mos. even though they are all on different levels of learning… this is a great way to talk to those precious little ones.. Thank You!
Amy Marshall
I’m looking forward to having this same type of conversation with my girls someday. Thank you for sharing. I’m always using what you create… Desire you really have a gift for teaching children.
Love this! You are an encouragement!
Love this!! Great ideas!
Great post! I need these ideas on how to make conversations like this natural.
Don’t you just LOVE it when these moments happen naturally? It seems like the children are so much more responsive when teaching flows out of their own curiosity or comments. Thank you so much for the encouragement to keep preaching the gospel to ourselves and our children!
“Out of the mouths of babes…”
Kids never cease to amaze me with how much they truly understand. I loved this. Thank you for sharing and I can only imagine how proud you are!!
Thanks for sharing your passion and your creative ideas! The most important mission field for any mom is her own kids, and you show that so well. I love the creative strategies and object lessons you’ve thought through in advance and can whip them out in a moment. Keep sharing!!
Thank you for always inspiring me how to share the words of the gospel with my sons in a way that they can understand!
Thank you for ideas on how to really show kids the meaning of abstract concepts!!! I will try this with my 4 year old son soon!!!
How wonderful - ALL of it!!! God is so great and gracious! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful moment with us!
What a sweet encouragment!!! Also pretty excited about
The giveaway.
What an encouraging story!! I’ve been wondering how to lead my boys so they understand the relationship they have with Christ. Thanks again!
Your blog has been such an encouragement to me. Thank you for putting yourself out there. Just another example of how “talking down” to our kids does them a disservice. Thank you
My son is 1 and I have one more boy on the way, so I love to read your blog and get a picture of what my life will look like soon
It is such an inspiration to me with truly great ideas. Thank you for your sincerity. I pass your blog along to all of my friends!
Love the bracelet!
Thanks for sharing! I love hearing your stories, they are refreshingly real and inspiring!
LOVED reading this!!! Great ideas and gorgeous bracelet!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this and for encouraging me to have those deep conversations with my children even if I’m not sure they’ll fully “get it.”
Can’t wait to try this approach with my two older boys (3 & 5)….the 1 year old, well, he’s teaching ME grace (hahahaha!) Thanks for the post! I’ve always wondered why my middle name is Grace, never much of a graceful sort, but in the recent years have thought, maybe it’s what God wants to remind me of every single second of my life. thanks.
Love this post! As a children’s minister, one of my most frustrating experiences is when adults do not give children the credit they deserve in their ability to grasp the gospel! Yet, as a Mom, one of my biggest failures is not sharing the gospel enough with my four children. Thank you for the reminder and great ideas!
I LOVE your creative ideas! You can make it so simple, but still keep the meaning in it for the little ones and us!!!
Desire’, I’m always encouraged! Thank you so much for the challenge to regain perspective and seize the teachable moments!
This is a great post and very inspirational. I love the bracelet too.
Hi, this was encouraging for me because i have no idea how to talk to my kids about the gospel. I need to take baby steps. I just came across this blog today and hope to look at your for more teaching ideas
What a smart young man! Though my granddaughter is a bit older I love to hear ways to teach her more about Grace & Faith. I LOVE the way you used this time as a learning experience. Thank you for teaching me also. The bracelet is beautiful. I will have to find a craft to use the words on it for, so we can display it as a reminder in our home…
Thanks for sharing this idea. I know my boys need to learn about this…and I sure need the reminder!!
This is SO do-able! Thank you so much for all that you share! It’s inspiring and motivating!
Thank you for the reminder that they are never too young….they are little sponges! I have been lacking in this area and it is a great reminder of what I need to be doing with my kids daily.
Thanks for the inspiring post!
I have a 5 y/o and a 3 y/o and they are constantly asking me questions about spiritual issues that I find so difficult to explain on their level. Thanks for the encouragement and working out the solutions for us to benefit from! Blessings!
I LOVE the way you brought grace to life! And how God inspired your idea. I think kids are NEVER TOO YOUNG to hear the glorious truth. Even if just a tiny seed is planted, it will grow as they grow. Thanks for the link to the memory verse cards- just telling God I want to challenge my kids and myself with more scripture memory this summer.
Thanks for the reminders on this!
What a beautiful bracelet!!! Such a great reminder