School Prep – Part 2 of 3: Leading Our Children to Jesus

(This is a continuation of our special series about preparing our hearts for starting well in the upcoming school year. If you missed Part 1, you can read it by clicking here.)

Salvation is really the foundation we want our kids to build on as we send them into school.  As my oldest son says…if we don’t built on that, we’ll build on something else.
So whether your child is entering Kinder or is a Senior this year…let’s remind them of who they’ve given their life to. ~ Julie

I’m so happy to write this post because my 6-yr-old daughter asked Jesus to be her Savior. She wants to follow Him. To trust Him and walk with Him throughout her life. For a Christian, this is the biggest eternal decision we can make.

My goal in telling you this story is to share what happened in our conversation, and hopefully give you some encouragement in how to walk with your children through the plan of salvation. This is not an exhaustive explanation—just real, authentic living.

We were reading about Saul and his experience with Jesus as he was on his way to persecute believers in Damascus. We read the particulars in her children’s Bible. After reading about Saul’s conversion Landry wanted to get baptized.

I asked her what it meant to be baptized; she said it meant that you trusted Jesus and wanted to follow him. Worked for me.

I wanted her to understand what sin is and why we even need a Savior. So we flipped back to read the 10 Commandments.

I explained that God is holy and perfect. He cannot allow sin into His presence. If we have broken even one of God’s laws, then we are unable to have a relationship with Him. We went through each one and I asked her if she had ever broken that commandment. It was hard for me to explain what idolatry, not keeping the Sabbath, and committing adultery were. If I did it over again I wouldn’t even mention those until she got older. She understood very well what dishonoring parents, stealing, lying and coveting were, though.

And she started to cry. And then I started to cry. Gracious.
She said, “Now I feel really, really bad.” (Memo: that’s called conviction and it is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a GOOD thing!)

So we began to pray together. At first she wouldn’t say anything out loud, but I told her that the Bible tells us that if we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then we will be saved. So she started to repeat after me in a VERY loud voice. (Insert big grin.)

She understands that when she gets baptized she is showing everyone around her that she is a Christ-follower. She’s on the path to knowing Him and doing life with Him.

You have the unique privilege to share your faith with your child. I encourage you to take a moment today and share part of your testimony with your kids. It will mean a lot to them, especially as they grow up, to know why you follow Christ. Go ahead. Start the conversation.

This post was written by Jodi Leigh LaFrance. To read more about her, click here.