Satan Doesn’t Care If Our Children Are Too Young

watermelon When my children were young, I taught 6-7-year-old Sunday School. One Sunday the preschool teacher asked me if I taught the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to the children. I answered, “Yes, we try to shelter our children but Satan doesn’t care how old our children are.” With a smile and a nod she said, “Yes, I teach it too.”

Satan thinks our children are never too young to be influenced and destroyed by his lies. The secular children’s market is being flooded with books that have an agenda to reach children with lies about family, morality, and society. As authors how do we combat those lies? Can we write with a Christian worldview without being preachy? Eddie Jones, an author, and publisher said at the Asheville Christian Writers’ Conference that we must get out of our comfort zone and reach out into our Samaria. When the publisher asks for your back of the book bio, then let it be known that you are a Christian. When children and parents enjoy your books they will search the web for more about you. Let them find more about Jesus.

As parents, we also need to let our children know from a very young age what God says about family, marriage, morality, and our place in society. May we always seek to love the sinner, but hate the sin, for we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

How are you addressing sensitive issues with your children? How can we as writers address these issues in a secular market so we reach out with truth in love?

Comments

Satan Doesn’t Care If Our Children Are Too Young — 2 Comments

Sonja Anderson on March 18, 2019 at 2:49 pm said:

Thank you for this. As a Christian author in a public school library, I really want to encourage other Christian writers to definitely try to reach the secular market with words that reflect truth and hope. There are a lot of kids in the public schools, both Christian and not-yet Christian, who respond with joy to these types of books.

As I try to write books that are loved by both kinds of kids, I also read as many of the books published by secular markets that address faith in small ways without being preachy as I can (Silence of Murder, Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, Leap of Faith, the War that Saved My Life are a few, although not all are Christian). Even reading books that address spiritual beliefs that reflect other traditions can be helpful as we try to write books that kids will love to read that have a shot at getting published by a traditional, secular publisher. The kids are worth the effort!

I love what the post above says about even adding something to your bio that can lead kids to explore your website, which can further lead them closer to Christ. Little nuggets dropped into a story, too, can be a seed–we don’t have to cover all elements of faith in a single story.

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Patti Rokus on March 19, 2019 at 3:36 pm said:

Gail, I completely agree with you. You share a message we all need to be reminded of- that we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We have the honor and responsibility to be angels to the children and families that lead them to our Savior and nourish them with His words and His love. Thank you for reminding us to find gentle ways to influence and inspire; always pointing souls to God. Some believe that Satan cannot tempt children before an age of accountability; but we know Satan can afflict any child of any age. Let us arm them with truth and power. Often teaching awareness of truth and error, light and dark, can make all the difference.

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