“How do you get to Heaven?”

Step one in my new Sunday school class. Figure out the gospel. My husband was across the hall doing the same thing with the youth.

“Well, you have to be good.”

“You need to obey God.”

“You go to church and read your Bible.”

My kids are in that class. My kids. My chest felt hollow as I felt my heart sink to my feet. If it wouldn’t have totally scared those kids I would have hit my knees that moment in repentance for what I had done and desperate intercession for their souls. Most likely it would have involved wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Here was I, the teacher, the leader, the mother and somehow I had taken a side track. I had slipped off the path. I had inadvertently taught my children to worship at the shrine of their own goodness instead of pressing into the Savior that is truly Good.

Obeying God is a good thing. Progressive sanctification is a Godly process. Before you go on make sure you understand that I am completely for those things, I believe we should teach our children the whole counsel of the word and that we should teach them what is right in God’s eyes.

But…

In our efforts to correct, train, and discipline our kids we have forgotten the step one. In our frustration with bad behavior we have gone ahead in the manual without building the foundation.

Jesus loves you. Even when you are naughty.

Jesus loves you. Even when you forget to do all the things.

Jesus loves you. Even when you are mad and sad and you want to scream.

Jesus loves you. Even when you do scream.

It’s okay that you can’t do it. It’s okay to fall short. You don’t have to make up the difference. He already did.

 Jesus loves you. Love Him too.

All the good behaviors and good morals we teach our kids are for nothing if they don’t have Jesus. We can’t maintain goodness without him. In fact, while we walk this earth we won’t even be able to maintain constant goodness with Him.

We will fall short. They will fall short.

And when we inadvertently teach them that goodness is the way to God, we set our children up for a long fall. The kind of fall that breaks more than a body.

Jesus loves you. His grace is sufficient for you.

 It’s been weeks since I started teaching that Sunday school class now, the one that my kids go to. We always start the same now:

“How do you get to Heaven?”

“Believe!!!!”

“Believe in what?”

“Believe in Jesus!!!!”

“What about Jesus?”

“He died for me. He conquered death. He rose from the grave. He saved me” (That part gets a little less uniform.)

“So do you have to be good? Do you have to pray? Do you have to read your Bible?

“NO!!!!”

I love that part, because almost every week we have a new kid. Eyes buldge, jaws drop. They are always rendered silent.

“But those are good things right? Why do we do those things?”

“Because Jesus loves us.”

Because Jesus loves you.

That foundation that we ley everything else on. That foundation on which we build the church. That foundation on which we build our sanctification. That foundation on which we build a relationship.

Jesus loves me, this I know. 

To Connect With Kaylie and Read More Of Her Posts.

I like to share about all the glory that God shows me over at my blog kayliehodges.com. I write about faith, family, and funnies. I love to listen to stories, and tell tales of the beauty from ashes that is adoption, and often motherhood in general. I am currently working on a book about sharing lives and sharing faith!

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/08/09/just-a-little-perspective/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/11/14/when-your-theology-doesnt-match-your-reality/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/03/21/travel-otherness-and-our-kids/

http://kayliehodges.com/2015/01/21/going-rouge/

http://kayliehodges.com/2012/04/26/keeping-it-real-mean-girls/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/12/31/911-panic/