Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean our easy opportunities to teach our kids about God are gone too. New Years is low-hanging fruit to talk to our kids about some of the most important aspects of the gospel. Here are five simple ways we can use New Years to have natural, truth-filled, conversations with our kids.
*this post was originally written in 2014, and updated in 2019.
Today is the last day of 2014 and tomorrow we welcome a new year, full of hope and promise and resolutions to do better.
There are lots of different perspectives when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. You may love long lists– bulleted, prioritized, and color-coded with an arsenal of ink pens. You may be fine with vague notions of goals that are simply remembered in your minds. Or you may simply opt out of the ritual completely.
I have found myself in each group, depending on the year. Last year my resolution was just to have a baby sometime in the first couple of weeks in the new year, and to make it out of winter and newborn days less weather-beaten than I had been with my second child. That was about all I had space to think about, and that was fine.
This year my resolutions and goals are a bit more concrete. I may not get around to color-coding my list, because despite my best intentions, my husband probably says it best when he describes me as a spontaneous person who wants to be organized. (Read: type A ambitions without type A follow-through).
Among other things, I am going to strive to make the new year a time to return to better eating habits, a time to strive for a more disciplined routine, and a time to return to prioritizing the most important things in our family. (My resolutions are about the same now in 2019).
My resolutions are not extravagant and chances are yours are not either.
We are coming out of a season that was rich with opportunities to remember Jesus and to teach our children the gospel. But even as you are busy packing away Christmas decorations and moving on, don’t pack away all the intentionality with which you approached the season. New Year’s is another great opportunity to teach our children the gospel.
5 Ways to Use New Year’s to Teach Kids About the Gospel
1. Nobody is perfect.
The first is simple. The fact that we all feel the need to make resolutions, to try to improve ourselves, is a reminder that none of us meet even our own standards all the time.
Helping our children understand that they are not always good is foundational to teaching them the gospel. In a culture that values self-esteem above everything else, telling anyone that they are bad is not a popular thing to do.
But if we neglect to tell our kids that they are incapable of pleasing God on their own, that the bad things they do separate them from God, and that there are innumerable things that they should do but don’t, then they will be missing the first step in understanding why the rest of the gospel matters.
What this might sound like talking to a small child:
We all do things everyday that do not please God. We are unkind to our family and friends. We whine and complain when we do not get what we want. And we love ourselves more than we love God. Just like daddy and mommy need to discipline you when you do bad things, God cannot ignore the bad things we have done either. But Jesus came and did never did anything bad. He took our punishment for us, and if we trust in Jesus, God will accept Jesus’ punishment and forgive us.
2. Jesus is the only one who NEVER had to make New Year’s resolutions.
This is also a great occasion to teach our kids about how Jesus is perfect. In every way that we are not.
Jesus always obeyed. Always did what he should. And always with the right attitude. This is also central to the gospel. Because Jesus perfectly obeyed and never sinned, He was able to take our punishment on the cross. He had no guilt of his own to accuse him so he was able to bear all of ours.
What this might sound like talking to a small child:
Jesus always obeyed his parents. He always loved other people more than himself. He was perfect in every way. And if we trust in Jesus, all his good and perfect days are shared with us. He was perfect because we couldn’t be.
3. We don’t have to make (and keep) resolutions for God to love us.
The tradition of making resolutions can cause confusion for children and adults alike. Our vows to change and get better can subtly become a way of earning favor with God in our minds. Whether or not we consciously acknowledge it, we think that what we are doing is somehow making God love us more or making it easier for God to forgive us for all our past mess-ups.
We need to teach our children that if they have trusted in Jesus, they are already in a place where God’s love for them is secure. Jesus earned our favor and made forgiveness possible through his death and resurrection. No matter how many improvements we make this year, we can never earn more favor or secure more of God’s love than we already have.
What this might sound like talking to a small child:
God loves us all the time, even when we do things that are bad or mean. He will never stop loving us and there is nothing we can do to make him love us more.
4. We should make resolutions. For the right reasons.
In Christ, we are secure. God will not stop loving us. We have been fully and perfectly forgiven.
These amazing and beautiful truths do not give us license to do as we please. They compel us to strive for better things. Christians are not comfortable when they know there are areas of sin in their lives. Christians want to make their lives better– so that they are a better witness to the gospel, and so that they are continually becoming more like Christ.
By all means, make resolutions to fight sin and add healthy habits to your life. Just remember what the motivation is.
Not earning. Receiving.
Not for our glory. For God’s.
What this might sound like talking to a small child:
God wants us to try to do better and to want to do things that please him. We should ask God to help us do these things so that people will see our good work and praise him.
5. We keep our resolutions by God’s power and grace working in our lives.
We all know what it is like to make a resolution on New Year’s day and fizzle out just weeks later. It happens to everyone at some point because we are all incapable of making ourselves perfect (see point 1). The struggle can be defeating and discouraging or it could push us harder into relying on God’s power and grace.
As our children struggle (and as we struggle) to keep our resolutions, use it as another occasion to remind them of the gospel. The same grace that saves them, helps them everyday to fight sin and do the things that please God.
Pray for help before you struggle. Pray for help in the midst of the struggle. Pray with thanksgiving in it all.
What this might sound like talking to a small child:
Daddy and mommy and you all need God’s help to do things that please him. God wants us to ask him for help and he has promised to give us help when we ask. When we are having a hard time obeying, we should keep praying for God to help us.
I hope these reminders encourage you and help you to point your kids to the good news of the gospel today and everyday!
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