Most parents would probably say that they know their children very well. We have watched them grow up and have shared in just about every significant milestone they’ve enjoyed so far. We have watched their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. We know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry. We have seen them make new friends, travel to new places, and even try new foods. We know their favorite toy, their favorite book, and their favorite movie. 

But how well do your kids know you? 

As we continue to get to know the hearts and stories of our children, let us not miss the opportunity to share our hearts and stories with them. 

Here are three testimonies every Christian parent should share with their children: 

Tell Your Kids the Story of How Jesus Saved You

Have you ever shared your testimony with your children? 

When we tell our kids how the Lord saved us from our sin and gave us new life, we invite them to celebrate salvation with us and we provide for them a personal example of the power of the Gospel. 

Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel for he believed it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). He knew this salvation and he frequently shared his testimony. 

Paul would often recount his old life, his encounter with Jesus Christ, and the radical transformation Jesus brought to his life (Acts 22:3-16; Acts 26:4-23; Galatians 1:13-23).  

Perhaps you could read some of Paul’s testimonies with your children during Family Worship and then share your own testimony with your family, letting them hear the story of how Jesus rescued you from your former way of life and made you a new creation. 

Tell Your Kids the Stories of How God Worked in Mighty Ways in Your Life

After God led Joshua and His people across the Jordan, God had the people set up twelve memorial stones. These stones were meant to serve as a reminder of God’s mighty works. The Lord ensured that Israel would pass down this testimony to the coming generations. 

Joshua said to the people, “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord…so these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever” (Joshua 4:6-7). 

What a blessing it would be if you were able to set up some “memorial stones” in your home by finding opportunities to share testimonies with your children.

Tell them about the mighty ways in which God has worked in your life. 

Tell them stories of how the Lord answered prayers. 

You have probably never followed the Lord through the Jordan, but you can share testimonies of the many times the Lord has led and guided you. 

Think of one of these testimonies and then write a word or two on a stone and set the rock on the kitchen table. I imagine that in less than a few hours, one of your children will ask you, “What does this mean to you?” 

Tell Your Kids the Stories of How God Carried you through Difficult Times

As we seek to disciple our children and as we pray for their spiritual maturity, we want to prepare their hearts for the difficult seasons that will inevitably come. 

We know they will face hardship and heartache. We know they suffer. We know they will grieve. And we know that the Lord can carry them through it all. 

One way we can teach our children to find refuge and shelter in the Lord, trusting him in the darkest of days, is to share our own testimonies of times when the Lord carried us through such storms. 

How did you seek the Lord during a season of loss? How did God provide when you were unemployed? How do you cry out to Him when your heart is heavy with grief or anxiety? How do you find strength in the Lord in the face of persecution? How do you come to know the Lord as the God of comfort? How has Jesus proven faithful even when no one else was there? 

I love how Paul shares one of these testimonies with the church, writing: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). 

The Lord has moved in our lives. He has saved, forgiven, provided, healed, restored, delivered, and blessed. He has answered prayers beyond anything we could have imagined. Now let us be faithful to declare: 

“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…so that they should set their hope in God” (Psalm 78:4, 7).

Jonathan Williams, Ph.D. (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries, the author of Gospel Family: Cultivating Family Discipleship, Family Worship, and Family Missions, and the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX. He lives in Houston with his wife and three children.