It's Never Too Early to Tell Your Kids about Jesus

Photo: Tampa Pediatrics

It's never too early or too late to tell your kids about Jesus.  

Here are some recent conversations I've had with my four year old son and my two year old daughter: 

Dad:     "What's your guys' favorite song?"  

Kids:    "Cornerstone!" 

Dad:     "What other song is your favorite?"  

Kids:    "Thank you Jesus!"  

Dad:     "Who is Jesus?"  

Kids:    "He's Lord of all!"
Luke:   "All means of everything and everyone."  

Dad:     "Where is Jesus?"

Kids:    "He's in heaven."

Dad:     "Where else?"

Kids:    "He's in my heart!"

Dad:     "What's your favorite story?"
Kids:    "Jesus dying on the cross!"

Dad:     "Why did he die?"
Kids:    "To save us."

Dad:     "What does Daddy do?"
Kids:    "He teaches the Bible."

Dad:     "What else does Daddy do?"
Kids:    "He helps people."

Dad:    "Luke, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
Luke:  "Be a pastor and a doctor."



These are not manufactured answers that we teach our kids to memorize.  They come straight from the heart.  Our kids run around shouting "Jesus is Lord!" or "In Jesus name!" and sing the choruses to worship songs like Cornerstone or Thank You Jesus (see links above).  Luke almost daily asks me questions about Jesus.

I don't say these things to show off  - though I am proud of them as any parent should be.  I say these things to encourage you to start talking to your kids about Jesus.  It's never too early or too late.

Below are some helpful tips that we practice to get our kids thinking and talking about Jesus:

• Play worship music.  Not Christian radio either; Christian worship.  Songs that purposefully and intentionally glorify the name of Jesus.   Buy albums from Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, and others.  Play these songs when you eat meals, when you clean the house, or when you are driving in your car.  My kids force me to play Cornerstone for them whenever we get into the car. Sing along with them enthusiastically.  They feed off of your enthusiasm.  
• Read Bible stories.  Buy a few children's bible story books and read them before your kids go to bed.  You would be amazed how much they retain and when they get old enough how curious they are about the content.  
• Download Bible apps.  I cannot thank Lifechurch.tv enough for creating the Bible App for Kids.  Last Good Friday my wife and I went to a Thai restaurant with our kids after our church's evening service.  The wait was long and our kids were getting restless.  Suddenly I realized I should download this app and tell my kids the Easter story.  It was amazing!  They were so fascinated by Jesus' arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  They wondered why such a good man had to die.  It gave me an opportunity to share the gospel with my kids for the very first time! I'll never forget that night.  Now our kids daily want to play with our smartphones and tablets and watch all the Bible stories.  If you have a kid who loves your electronic devices, download that app!  
• Pray with them.  We try to regularly pray with our kids.  We do it before meals, when people send me prayer requests (as a Pastor I get texts all the time), when we start our day and when we go to sleep.  We are not perfect but we try our best.  Over time our kids have developed their own prayers and they are as precious as it gets.  A sample would be like this: "Thank you Jesus for Mommy, Daddy, Luke, Abby, and Micah.  In Jesus name, Amen."  Short and sweet!  
• Talk about Jesus.  My wife and I talk about Jesus a lot.  He defines who we are and why we are here on Earth, so naturally he comes up in our conversations.  That hasn't changed since having kids.  We talk about Jesus in front of our kids because he's such a big part of our lives.  I mean, he is our life!  You don't have to preach a sermon to your kids, just openly and joyfully talk about salvation that is in no other name then the name of Jesus!  

If you have any good tips to add, feel free to add them in the comments below!