Have you ever really thought about how children are taught about the death of Jesus? When they are young, the story is sanitized quite a bit. Even if the beatings and other horrific aspects are mentioned, they are told in story form. A child who has never been exposed to the things in the story will have little understanding of what really happened.
Teens may get exposure to one of the more realistic movies that act out the details very graphically. The problem is when older children reach the age of accountability (which differs from child to child), they are often too young to see these “R” rated movies and only have the sanitized version of the cross in their minds.
Part of becoming a Christian for many is understanding the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made so we can have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. If the sacrifice Jesus made was no big deal, they may feel perhaps faith isn’t really that important. Think about it. God could have chosen a much less horrible way for Jesus to take our place and yet He didn’t. There is something in the details of what happened that is important to our faith.
So how can you help older children and young teens understand the details of the cross and the sacrifice Jesus made a little better? A few affordable visual aids and some basic facts can help them begin to understand the enormity of what happened to Jesus. We did this in a Bible class of 5th and 6th graders recently, but they are things you can easily do at home:
Continue reading Adding Meaning to the Cross for Kids (At Home)