About five years ago I attended a regional Children Desiring God conference. It was really good. I still find myself thinking about what I learned there as I teach my own children now. So today I’m pass on some of the things I learned that I still think about often.
Children are emotional learners. So when we tell Bible stories, we don’t just want to get across the facts. We also want to make sure they make the right emotional connection.
So, for example, they were talking about teaching children what it’s like when we take glory from God. And to teach the children’s Sunday school class this concept, the teach one of the students would have a race. Before they began the teacher would explain that whoever won the race would get to wear a medal and she made a really big deal about it. Then she raced the student and let the student win. The whole class, of course, was super excited that the student beat the teacher. But then she took the medal and put it around her own neck. And the class became upset and angry. And then the teacher explained that her taking the medal is what it’s like when we try to take glory instead of giving God glory.
The other example I remember was that the teacher was telling the story of Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac. And when she got to that part in the story she pulled out the biggest, scariest looking knife anyone had ever seen. And afterwards she talked about how the experience would have been different if she had pulled out a little butter knife.
I don’t do this perfectly, but I try to keep it in mind when I talk to my daughters about God.