Evangelizing a Child: Experiencing the Joy

As a Mother, I truly have no greater joy, no greater hope, no greater aspiration in my calling as a Mother than to hear that my children walk in truth. The truth being, that Jesus Christ died for their sins and in response they are to acknowledge Christ as Lord of their life. People may wonder why I don’t treasure them attaining to a noble, highly desired profession or becoming wealthy citizens over this desire of them knowing Christ as Savior. The truth is, knowing Christ and being a disciple of His is a matter of life and death. To know Him as Lord is to have eternal life with Him in Heaven, and to not know Him is to live perpetually separated from His presence.  It’s a serious matter. While I have found the task of evangelizing my children one that should not be taken lightly, I have discovered an absolute joy and thrill in the process of the Lord drawing my children to Himself and witnessing the transformation of their heart. God is fulfilling the hope that I have in my journey as a Mother.

God places the responsibility of teaching and rearing a child in His Word on the parents. It is not the primary responsibility of the Sunday School teacher, Pastor, or school teacher to evangelize our children. While they play a vital role in presenting and teaching God’s Word, it is not their primary responsibility. In Deuteronomy 11:19, God instructs His people on how they were to teach His commandments,

You shall teach them to your son, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 11:19)

God’s Word should be discussed in the home at the dinner table, in car, at night, during the day, anytime it becomes appropriate. We’re given a promise in Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. Since parents are charged with training their children in the way He should go according to God’s Word, we need to seek wisdom from the Lord on how to accomplish this task.

The first aspect of evangelizing our children is to educate ourselves on the message so that we can present it clearly to them.

1) God is holy, perfect, and just. (Exodus 34:6-7, Psalm 25:8, James 1:17, Psalm 145:17, 1 Samuel 2:2, Isaiah 6:3, Psalm 139:7-10, Psalm 147:5, Hebrews 4:13, Psalm 145:17, Colossians 1:15-17)

2) Man does not seek after God and is born a sinner. (Romans 6:23, Ecclesiastes 7:20, John 8:44, Galatians 5:19-21, John 8:34, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 3:11)

3) Jesus Christ was born, crucified, buried, and resurrected to glorify Himself through the salvation of sinners. (1 Corinthians 15:4, Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 1:15, Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 4:12)

4) Man is called to repent and seek forgiveness in what Christ did on the Cross. (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38, Matthew 3:2, Matthew 3:8, Isaiah 30:15, Acts 3:19, Hebrews 9:27)

5) Man is given a new heart when they believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior and will live eternally with Him in Heaven. (Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 24:7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 65:17-25, Revelation 21:1-8)

We have a magnificent message of the gospel to present and teach our children, beginning at a very young age and we need to have the wisdom ourselves before we attempt to teach it to our children. 

We first need to illustrate to our children who God is. This can be expressed even in the toddler years. As you ride in the car or play outdoors you can point out the aspects of nature that are created by a holy and perfect God. The sun, the moon, the stars, all created by our Heavenly Father. You can express God’s love for His creation as you tuck them in at night, sharing with your child how much more God loves and cares for them.

As your child grows you will have ample opportunity to talk with them about their sinful nature. Take note that you will never have to have a teaching session with them on how not to share, disobey, lie, pout, whine, or cry when they don’t get their way. As you observe your child’s sinful nature, point out to them exactly what their flesh is doing. When you discipline them, explain that when they disobey Mommy and Daddy they are sinning against God and their disobedience deserves punishment. Day after day, moment after moment, as God in His sovereignty brings these aspects of His gospel message to your mind, talk with your child about what is happening within their heart and how Jesus Christ came to earth to save and forgive sinners.

As your child grows and matures in their understanding of God’s Word and you see them struggling to behave when their flesh wants them to do otherwise, encourage them to repent and seek the Lord for His forgiveness once and for all.

I recall when my oldest daughter, who is also my strong-willed child, was around the age of 6 and she found herself yet again having a moment of disobedience. Given her normally uncompromising nature, she seemed to find herself having to be disciplined on an almost daily basis. As we had regular conversations with her about a person’s sin nature, she resolved within herself that she was “too bad” for God to save her. When she voiced this to me I was shocked to think that she could ever think that she could ever be too terrible for Christ to save her, but after putting myself in her shoes and trying to imagine what it’s like to constantly struggle with trying to behave I could sympathize with how she could have come to consider this. Adults struggle with the same thought. At times when we’re caught up in the practice of sin and we’re so deeply entrenched in what we know we shouldn’t be doing we can be tempted to think that we can never be good enough to be saved. The truth is, there is no good in us and we don’t deserve to be saved. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This moment, when my daughter struggled with her disobedience, gave me an opportunity to share truth from the Bible with her. Though she felt discouraged over her sin, I was able to share with her the joy there is in knowing Christ as Savior and how He wiped away her sins past, present, and future by His death on the Cross. The reality is she would continue to sin because she is human with a sin nature, but salvation removes the power that sin has over her.

While no one knows the day or moment when the Lord will draw a person to Himself to be His child (see John 3:8), we are challenged to share the gospel and as parents our primary witnessing battleground begins at home. If you missed out on the opportunity to proactively teach and share the gospel with your child in their younger years, its never too late to start! No matter the age. Evangelizing and disciplining our own children can be one of the greatest joys of our Christian journey. To experience the Lord God Himself drawing your children to Himself as they over time understand their sinful nature and then finding hope in what Christ did on the Cross is indescribable.  

So you study and learn the gospel message yourself and then share, discuss, rebuke when necessary, share, talk, and then talk some more with your child as the Lord uses you as an instrument in His Hand for saving your child out of darkness, into His most marvelous light. Be committed to also praying that God would soften your child’s heart to the gospel.  According to God’s sovereign plan and in His timing, as you are obedient to proclaiming His truth, if your child responds in faith and obedience to His Word you will experience the joy of the Lord bringing your child into His eternal family.

Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  (Mark 10:14)