Helping Kids Understand the Grace of God

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” – Ephesians 2:8 NIV

I’m convinced that many of the kids who grow up in church are not born again. What I mean is they have no understanding of God’s grace.

I see two extremes:

Kids who view Christianity through the filter of the law. For these kids, Christianity is about obeying the rules. Their parents are inflexible and legalistic. They make a lot of rules in the hope that they will keep their kids from sinning.
Kids who are dependent on their parents’ relationship with God

For the most part, the children in our classes are kids who have grown up in church. They are what we call “church kids.” They have good parents who love God. The reality is that these go to church not by choice but because their parents do. Many parents assume that their kids are saved because they attend church.

So, how do we teach our kids about grace?

Here are some ideas:

Read Romans 1:29 to your kids.
- Hand out a piece of paper and ask the kids to grade themselves in these areas.
- Allow your kids to talk about which sins they struggle with.
- Then go around the group, cross out the grade they gave themselves, and write A+ on every paper.
- Talk about how Jesus gives us an A+ when we believe in Him.
- Jesus did all the hard work for us.
Use the illustration of the parent and a new baby. When a new baby is born, her parents do all the work. They feed her and change her diaper. They go to work every day to pay for the food and the house. The parents do everything at the beginning because they love their kids.

As the child begins to mature, the parents ask their daughter to do more stuff to take care of herself. This is what happens to us when we come to Christ. We don’t do anything to earn God’s grace. As we grow in Christ, we do more good works. Our good works can’t save us, but we are saved for good works. (Ephesians 2:8)
Discuss how, if we sin, God wants us to repent and God’s grace is what empowers our repentance.
Encourage your kids to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, rather than focusing on how they are falling short. Write down a list of all the good things God has done for you.
Read the story of the parable of the Prodigal Son and talk about how the elder brother was just as lost as the younger brother. The elder brother never left the “church,” but he thought he was better than his younger brother because he kept all the rules.

If you are flowing in the grace of God, you will have grace for your brothers and sisters. You will have grace for the new kids who come to your church. You won’t push people away.

“He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus! Can we boast then that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our obedience to the law. It is based on faith. So, then we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” Romans 3:26-28

What are some ideas you have used to teach kids about grace?