Eternity- Helping Your Children Understand the Truth
People are not learning the truth about eternity- more specifically that hell is a real place. It’s not a fun topic and it’s often skipped over because it’s uncomfortable to talk about. And understandably so, it’s not pleasant to hear that someone could end up in a place burning of fire and gnashing of teeth forever after dying. But God says it exists and that Christians are to tell the truth about what He says in His word. He gives us a choice in life- to receive His free gift of salvation by apologizing for our sins and accepting His son, Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. It also means your life must change and align with His standards if you are a true Christian. The other option is to refuse to believe (it’s your choice) but that you will go to hell separated from Him forever.
I’ve made the mistake of not telling people about hell when an opportunity presented itself to share my faith to help someone. I tend to focus only on salvation. But that’s not right on my part. People need to know the whole truth of the gospel so then they can make their own choice to accept Christ. No one should force their beliefs on anyone but Christians have a responsibility to share the facts. We all have free will as humans, so we decide where we are going after we leave this earth- heaven or hell. I would rather go to heaven.
As parents, we should be teaching our children about eternity as well. Kids do understand this concept if you take time to teach them about it. My husband and I taught our children specifically about God, salvation, heaven, and hell starting at toddler age. They can tell you about heaven and hell. So I can personally say that it’s very beneficial to teach this to your kids, starting at a young age.
This is not something parents should take lightly and skip over. You need to teach your kids about God and show love to them so they will want to accept Christ as their Savior. It’s helpful to ask yourself where you want your kids to spend eternity. God will hold us accountable for everything He puts us in charge over, and in this case it means our children. It will be our children’s decision whether or not to receive salvation. We can’t make them become saved. Some may get saved as young children, some as teenagers, and some as adults. It’s our job, as parents, to present them with the truth, model God’s love, and pray for them to receive Christ as their Savior.
I hope this encourages parents to think about this and make a commitment to teach their kids about eternity based off the Bible. Parenting Toolkit 1: Teaching Your Children Who God is and What It Means to Be a Christian, is available on the Free Resources page to help you with this in kid friendly language.
Here are some Bible verses to help with your understanding of eternity. John 3:16-18 is about salvation. Philippians 3:20-21 and John 14:1-3 are about heaven. Matthew 13:49-50 is about hell. My family and I read from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. If you don’t have a physical Bible, you can always use the Bible app on your phone or Google the verses.
Please take time to help your kids. This world is crazy. All the destruction taking place proves the Bible is true. If you read in the Bible about the end times you will understand what I mean. Receiving God’s gift of salvation will provide you with the help and peace of mind that you need in life when you make an effort to have a personal relationship with Him. It opens the door to living a good life that’s full of purpose. It’s so important to guide our kids along the right path. You can do this with God’s help!