July 23, 2025 • 36 mins
What do we do with those uncomfortable Bible stories when children are listening? You know the ones—David's affair with Bathsheba, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or pretty much the entire book of Judges. As parents and Sunday School teachers, our instinct might be to skip these passages altogether, saving them for when kids are "old enough." But could this well-meaning approach actually deprive children of crucial spiritual understanding?
After a Holy Spirit moment that challenged her own approach, Alexis Heaslip dives into why we shouldn't shy away from teaching difficult Bible stories to children. Drawing from her experiences as both a mother and kindergarten Sunday School teacher preparing to tackle David and Bathsheba's story, she offers practical guidance for presenting these narratives in age-appropriate ways while preserving their powerful spiritual lessons.
The Bible doesn't sanitize humanity's struggles—and perhaps that's exactly the point. These uncomfortable stories reveal the depth of human brokenness and our desperate need for a Savior. When children encounter biblical heroes who made terrible mistakes yet found forgiveness, they develop a more authentic understanding of sin, consequences, and God's unfailing grace. Through the example of David's repentance in Psalm 51, we see a beautiful model of genuine contrition that children can understand and apply to their own lives.
Beyond teaching about sin and forgiveness, these challenging passages develop critical thinking skills and biblical discernment—tools our children urgently need in today's confusing cultural landscape. Contrary to what we might assume, kids are tremendously perceptive and often grasp profound spiritual concepts when given the opportunity. Their questions about these stories frequently reveal deeper theological thinking than we give them credit for.
Ready to approach difficult Bible passages with confidence? Discover how to use age-appropriate language, focus on key themes rather than explicit details, highlight God's character, and create safe spaces for children to process and ask questions. Whether you're a parent, Sunday School teacher, or someone passionate about discipling the next generation, this episode equips you with practical strategies for teaching the whole Bible—not just the comfortable parts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi there and welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe.
I'm Alexis Heaslip and I amstriving and praying to be a
Proverbs 31 woman of faith.
I am so excited to be backagain with you guys and I have
decided, after praying about itand having a little Holy Spirit
(00:27):
moment this past week, to coversomething that, as a mom and as
a Sunday school teacher,something that's really been put
on my heart, and that is how toapproach stories in the Bible
that are really hard, that arereally can sometimes be explicit
(00:48):
, and how to teach them to ourchildren in a way that is
appropriate and impactful.
So buckle up.
This episode's going to beexciting and thought-provoking
and I hope you guys enjoy thisjourney with me.
Today.
Let's dive on in.
(01:12):
So, in starting this discussion,the first part of this
discussion that I really thinkis important is we need to talk
about and recognize that theBible is the word of God.
It is powerful, it is active,it is sharper than a two-edged
(01:34):
sword, and the whole Bible, notjust the fun stories, the whole
Bible, from genesis 1 torevelation, is important and it
is something that we should beteaching our children.
It is the word of god and it weare called as parents who want
(02:01):
our children to know the lord,we are called in Deuteronomy 6,
4 through 9, to teach the wordof God to our children, day and
night, when we're on the road,when we lie down, when we get up
.
It is our duty, it is our greatcommission as parents to teach
our children the word of God,and that means the whole word of
(02:23):
God, not just the stories thatwe like, like David fighting
Goliath, or like Noah in the ark, or like the amazing parables
of Jesus.
It's so much more than that.
Our duty is to use the word ofGod to show why we, as people,
need a savior, because we areall sinners who make mistakes.
(02:47):
So I'm going to be using a Biblestory as an example throughout
today's podcast.
That's really hard, even foradults to talk about because
it's uncomfortable.
However, god's Worduncomfortable.
(03:10):
However, god's word issomething that we can learn so
much from, and I'm gonna discussthe why.
So why should we not ignore thehard and difficult stories,
like the story of Sodom andGomorrah, like the story of how
there's just so many, like thewhole story of judges?
(03:31):
That whole book of the Biblecould be an HBO explicit show.
Let's get real.
Another example there's just somany of how the Israelites
rebelled over and over again inthe desert and built a golden
calf and held an orgy.
(03:52):
Okay, also, there's otherexamples throughout scripture
and first and second Kings, andsome of these Kings of Israel
did some pretty ratchet things,all right, but, but over and
over again, we see how God usesour human brokenness and shows
(04:20):
the reality of our humanbrokenness through these true
and hard stories in the Bible,so that we can learn that we
cannot do life on our own.
And that is my first point.
These hard but true stories inthe Bible are really important
(04:42):
because it shows the reality ofhuman brokenness.
And this is something our kidsneed.
All right, our kids need toknow that they are not perfect.
Our kids need to be humbled.
Our kids need to learn thateven these amazing characters in
the Bible, that even theseamazing characters in the Bible,
(05:03):
like Noah, like David, likeMoses, they were just people.
And, trust me, if you open upthe word of God and just read
for even a couple of verses, youwill quickly see they made some
big mistakes, Just like you andI do every single day, and they
(05:30):
sinned, just like you and I sin.
And these hard stories, thesehard, true stories of people
that we look up to in the.
They can help our kidsunderstand just how sin is in
(05:51):
every part of our life and thedepth of sin and why we need
grace from our redeeming God.
We can't shy away from thesestories, we can't.
We can't shy away from thesestories, we can't.
I have seen firsthand, as aSunday school teacher and
someone who's wanting to be ateacher and someone who's worked
(06:12):
in a classroom of the realityof parents not telling their
children no and the reality ofparents not disciplining their
children and just telling theirchildren oh you're just so
perfect.
Oh, they're just so perfect.
Oh, they just have a spicypersonality without any
consequences.
I've seen what that's like andthe way that children behave
(06:37):
when there are no consequences,when they're not getting told no
, when they're not givenexamples of why you shouldn't do
something, and it's horrifying.
It's horrifying.
I'm sure if you have a friendwho's a teacher, you've heard
some horrific stories ofclassroom behavior, management,
(07:01):
of how children are acting wildand it's because parents are
failing at discipling their kids.
Okay, that's the root of it.
Parents are failing atdisciplining their kids.
Parents are failing atdiscipling their kids, and
that's why I feel like it's soimportant that we talk about why
we should not ignore theseBible stories and why
(07:23):
discipleship begins in the home.
And this really leads to.
My second point is that kidsneed examples of the
consequences of sin.
Kids really need these examplesof consequences of our sin,
whether that is from people'smistakes that we see in the
(07:44):
Bible who are in the list ofheroes of the faith, or whether
that's from us coming to our ownchildren when we make mistakes
and saying I've messed up andthese are the consequences for
my own actions.
And this is why it's soimportant that we have these
discussions with our children.
(08:04):
It's so important that we havethese discussions with our
children and we need to tellthem and demonstrate to them
through our own actions andthrough teaching them the
stories in the Bible that ourfree will choices because we get
to make choices God does notmake us like robots where he
controls our actions.
We have the free will to chooseto follow him or to disobey,
(08:28):
but we need to set the examplethat our free will choices have
big and real consequences.
That is important and I fearthat many kids are not being
discipled in this biblical truthand that's scary.
The third point I want to makeIs that when we look at big mess
(08:52):
ups in the Bible and, like Isaid, there's a lot of them,
there's so many of them itreinforces the message of God's
amazing grace and redemption.
And what really sparked me onthis journey this week is my
(09:15):
Sunday school lesson, for thisSunday is on a story that's
really hard, and we've beentalking about David and how
David was a man after God's ownheart and how he loved the Lord
and he was a great and mightyking.
But this Sunday in my Sundayschool class and my kindergarten
(09:36):
Sunday school class, we aregoing to be talking about
David's choice to sin today andhurt Bathsheba and Uriah and get
him killed, and how he onlyrepented after God called him
out through the prophet Nathan.
(09:57):
And boy oh boy, is that a hardmoment in the Bible to discuss.
But it is so important becausetime and time again in the Bible
we see beautiful outcomesthrough imperfect people.
(10:18):
And although David, he did somehorrible things, horrible
things, things he had truerepentance after being rebuked
(10:38):
and he was restored.
And it is a beautiful moment toreflect and thank God and get
on our knees in thanksgiving andpraise because God's mercy and
forgiveness.
It doesn't ever stop if youseek it and ask for it, and he
will forgive the greatest ofsins, and that's why we cannot
(11:00):
shy away from these hard butimportant stories.
No sin is too big for God toforgive, as seen through the
life of so many of our heroesthroughout the Bible.
My fourth point is this Is thatwhen we go and are not shy with
(11:25):
our children about thesedifficult passages in scripture,
we help them developdiscernment and critical
thinking skills.
I don't know about you guys,but with the rise of AI, with
(11:49):
the rise of our kids havingaccess to all the information in
the world at their fingertips,whether they have a smartphone
which my kids will not begetting anytime soon or an iPad,
or have access to their parentsbeing able to look up
information, access to theirparents being able to look up
(12:14):
information there's a lack andit's for adults too of critical
thinking and discernmentnowadays, and that's something
that is not natural to us.
We have to be taught how todiscern.
We have to be taught how tothink critically, discern, we
have to be taught how to thinkcritically, and these are tools
that you can use in all aspectsof life.
And what better way to do thatthan through the word of God?
(12:38):
And with the word of God oursense of morality is shaped, our
sense of human dignity andworth is shaped.
Everything that matters comesfrom the word of God, and it is
through learning the word of Godthat our children can learn and
(13:00):
know what is right and what iswrong.
So that way, when they go outinto the world and the world is
telling them that yes means noand no means yes, they can be
critical thinkers who know thetruth and speak the truth back
to the world of darkness andlove.
And their brains can startchurning over these ideas
(13:24):
starting at a young age.
Because guess what?
Kids are way smarter than whatwe give them credit for and they
ask some amazing questions.
I get some amazing questions inmy Sunday school group and I've
had some amazing questions whenI was at Vacation Bible School
teaching.
(13:45):
Kids really do think morecritically than what we give
them credit for.
They're not just thinking aboutice cream and rocks and what to
do next outdoors.
They have some deep thoughtsand some big, important
questions, like one little girlasked me at Vacation Bible
(14:07):
School how can God be everywhereat once?
That's an amazing criticalthinking question, and when kids
ask these type of questions andfeel like they're in a safe
environment to be able to askthese questions, they can be
asking all sorts of questionslike what is right versus wrong?
(14:28):
What does the bible say aboutthat?
What does the bible say aboutjustice and forgiveness and
personal accountability?
These are all the types ofquestions or like why, why do
people choose to go to hell?
Why do people not believe ingod there?
These are the questions I'vehad asked by five-year-olds okay
(14:50):
, by five and six-year-olds Kids.
When given the opportunity andwhen they feel safe, they ask a
lot of really amazing andpowerful questions and this
prepares them for these realworld issues that they will
unfortunately experience or havealready experienced.
(15:14):
It will prepare them for realworld issues like death or
divorce or losing a friend or aloved one.
It will prepare them for timesin life where they're being told
that a girl can be a boy and aboy can be a girl, and if you
want to say you're a cat, youcan say you're a cat.
(15:34):
That is the world we are livingin, that is the world our
children are living in, and whenwe give them the space to learn
about what the word of God sayswhen we sin against him and how
God does judge, but he alsoshows mercy.
They will be prepared.
They will be prepared to answerthese deep questions and to
(16:02):
defend the word of God withsincere hearts, hearts.
And the last point I wanted tomake before putting this into
action is that by going throughthese hard but important
passages throughout scripture,it will strengthen their trust
(16:24):
in the word of God, inscriptures themselves, and it
shows us, all of us, that theword of God is reliable and is
the truth.
Transparency means trust andauthenticity.
If the word of God, if theBible, just wanted to make
(16:47):
itself look good, they wouldjust include all the stories
about how David fought a giant,how Moses parted the Red Sea,
how Noah built an ark, but leaveout the rest of the yuck.
They wouldn't have included.
People wouldn't have includedin the Bible how Mary and Joseph
weren't married.
They wouldn't have includedthings like Jesus dying on the
(17:13):
cross.
No, none of these things wouldhave been included.
They would not have includedhow Israel was carried off into
exile.
But because all of the humanityand the sin is included, we can
see how our God is a God ofconsistent mercy and love.
(17:37):
Yes, he uses justice, he is ajust God, but he is a consistent
God who loves us and wants usto be in relation with him,
loves us and wants us to be inrelation with him.
And by going through the yuckand the human travesty and their
(17:58):
hard-heartedness stories, wecan see how our God is a God of
truth and redemption.
And now we're going to pivot.
And now we're going to pivot,now that we've talked about why
(18:27):
it's important to talk about onDavid and Bathsheba, we're going
to be talking and using thatmoment in scripture as our
example, and so, if you're notfamiliar with the story, it can
be found in 2 Samuel, 11 and 12,as well as Psalm 51.
(18:48):
I'm not going to read all thepassages, but I'll give you the
Cliff Notes version.
David was king of Israel and hewas a mighty king, and every
year the kings would go out andfight each other for land and
for property, and instead ofDavid being and doing the things
(19:09):
that kings do, he had stayedbehind in Jerusalem.
So, problem number one, he wasnot doing his job.
Problem number two, he hadspotted Bathsheba, a beautiful
woman who was married to one ofDavid's generals, uriah and he
had Uriah and he had peepingTommy Lee been watching her
(19:34):
bathe and he forced his guardsto go get her and bring her to
him and have sex with her.
All right, whether Beth Shebawanted to come is up for debate.
I I don't think so.
I really don't think she wantedto.
She was forced to by guards andthen, and then finds out she's
(19:57):
pregnant, oh no.
So David tries to get Uriah tocome back to Jerusalem because
he, uriah, has been noble andbeen fighting the battles, like,
like he was supposed to.
And he told him no, no, no, Ihave to stay with my men.
And David kept insisting Uriahwould come back and he wouldn
him.
No, no, no, I have to stay withmy men.
(20:17):
And david kept insisting uriahwould come back and he wouldn't
do it.
So david, strike three alreadydoes something horrific.
He makes sure that uriah is onthe front lines so that he will
get killed in battle and he dies.
And then he marries Bathshebaand she's pregnant.
(20:40):
But God sends the prophet Nathanto David to tell him a story
about a sheep and how the sheepwas mistreated.
And David got all upset sayingyou can't do that, that that
person should get in trouble andNathan's like well, I hate to
break it to you, but you're theperson in that story who has
(21:03):
stolen the sheep.
And David truly does repent.
But God, being a God of justice, told him look, your child's
going to be born but not survive.
And David's son died and Davidwept and mourned but then had a
(21:26):
repentant and contrite heart andcried out to God and he was
truly repentant and he wasforgiven.
And he was forgiven.
And this really dark moment inhis life is what, uh?
Is what inspired him to writePsalm 51, which is a really
famous Psalm.
You know um part of the Psalmsays create in me a clean heart,
(21:49):
oh God.
And it's a really powerful song, psalm that I might read at the
end, and it talks aboutforgiveness and begging for
forgiveness.
So that's the little CliffNotes version of the story.
But how do you go about tellinga really dark story like this to
(22:16):
kids?
Do you go about it?
The first thing that you reallyneed to consider when talking
about an important but hard anddark story like this that's
found in the bible, dark storylike this that's found in the
(22:42):
Bible is to find a way to firstof all, know the age of your
children that you're going to betalking to and start with
language that is appropriate forthe child's age right.
Find a way to frame the storyin a way that highlights the
moral and spiritual lesson,without necessarily using
(23:03):
graphic details.
We don't have to say that Davidassaulted Bathsheba sexually.
We can say that David madeBathsheba come to him against
her will, but we don't have tosay that he sexually assaulted
her.
We don't have to say that.
(23:25):
So there's ways to go about it.
When they're younger especially,especially like when I'm
talking to my kindergartners,I'm just going to make a point
of saying that David broughtBathsheba to his palace and she
didn't want to go right.
That's one way we can start andas they get older, you can
(23:46):
explore more into the nittygritty, right.
So focus on themes rather thanexplicit content.
We can highlight, especiallywith younger children, like
elementary age, how David wasdisobedient.
(24:08):
We can highlight hisdisobedience.
We can talk about theconsequences of his actions and
how Uriah died because of hisactions.
We can talk about repentance,what that means and forgiveness.
Because, like I said, we don'thave to use the explicit details
(24:29):
.
We don't have to go into fulldetail, but we can still talk
about these key ideas Becausechildren understand what
disobedience is and consequencesand as they get older, we can
go further into the details,because as they get older and
more mature, they willunderstand and see and maybe
(24:55):
have lived through a parentgoing through an affair, a
parent going through a divorce,and they will be able to relate
to the content as they get older.
Like I said, you just have toknow the kids you're talking to
and the language that you feelis appropriate for them and the
(25:17):
language that you feel isappropriate for them.
And the third thing that youcan do is you can use these
stories to highlight God'scharacter.
You can point to God's justice,how God is a God of justice,
(25:43):
how God is a God of mercy and aGod of forgiveness.
God loved David, but that lovedoesn't change the fact that
David sinned.
But even though it made God sadand David was punished for his
sin, god showed him mercy andlove through compassion Once
(26:04):
David came back to God inrepentance.
And that is something that wecan really emphasize in this
moment that our God is a God whois waiting, always with open
arms, and he wants us to alwayscome to him, no matter what
(26:25):
we've done and that is somethingyou could really drive home
with your kids.
And the fourth thing that youcan do is take a moment during
your lesson whether this is athome and you're just reading
through the Bible with your kids, whether you teach at a
Christian school and you teachBible as part of your curriculum
(26:47):
, or a homeschooling parent.
Invite the kids to an opendialogue and let them process
what they've learned, let themask questions, let them move
along the conversation and letthem wrestle with what they're
learning.
Let them guide the conversation.
(27:11):
It is amazing how many times achild has brought up something
when we've gone over a Biblestory, and it's something I
would have never even thoughtabout.
Jesus literally says in thegospel let the children come to
me, and he wants us to have achildlike faith.
And if you have kids, you knowthey are full of questions and
(27:35):
ideas and they are curious andthey want to learn and they want
to please and they areresilient little buggers, and
that's how Jesus wants all of usto be when coming to him.
And although, like I said,these are hard stories, the
(27:59):
children really do get it.
They really do get it and eventhough, like I said, some of
these stories are hard.
They're hard and they'repainful, but they can connect
these biblical truths to theirlives.
Unfortunately, we live in aworld in the United States where
(28:22):
50% of marriages end in divorceand the kids are extremely
impacted by that.
It doesn't matter whether youthink or not, the kids are
deeply impacted by that andthere could be children in your
(28:43):
classroom, in your Sunday schoolclass, in your neighborhood, in
your community that have gonethrough a moment in their
personal life where their familyhas been ripped apart by
infidelity.
And this is a moment where theycan see how our God is a
(29:04):
merciful God who loves anyonewho comes and he loves everyone,
and that this sin is.
It breaks god's heart, ittotally breaks god's heart, but
it can be forgiven.
It also shows them theimportance of integrity and of
(29:27):
telling the truth, because youractions have consequences.
And it also shows the kids theimportance of owning up to their
mistakes and not crying wolfand not trying to blame others.
(29:53):
No one likes to be friends witha liar.
No one likes to be friends witha liar.
No one likes to be aroundsomeone who cries wolf all the
time, because if you continue tocry wolf just like the story of
the boy who cried wolf.
If you keep lying over and overagain, one day people aren't
(30:14):
going to come and help youanymore, because they just don't
believe you.
So these are just some waysthat kids can really connect to
a story that you, as an adult,might think is so hard.
But there are some beautifultruths to be found, truths to be
(30:43):
found, and the last thing thatwe can do with these hard
stories is to pray through thestory together and look at how
the people in the story turn toGod in their moments of defeat,
in their moments of failure andtheir moments of darkness.
And that is what I'm reallyexcited to do on Sunday with my
kids.
And we're going to be able tosee how, through David's
(31:08):
realization that he sinned, hecalled out to God in repentance
and praised the Lord and askedGod to be gracious and
compassionate to him.
So I want to end this byreading Psalm 51 together.
So if you'll turn with me,let's turn to Psalm 51.
(31:31):
So we can just like our kidswhen we are talking to them and
teaching them about the word ofGod.
We can learn what it means toturn to God and ask for help
when we mess up all right.
(32:02):
Psalm 51 for the music director,a psalm of David when Nathan
the prophet came to him after hewent to Bathsheba.
For I know my transgressionsand my sin is ever before me.
Against you you only.
Have I sinned and done what isevil in your sight, so that you
(32:23):
are just when you speak andblameless when you judge?
Behold, I was born in iniquityand in sin when my mother
conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in theinner being.
Make me know wisdom inwardly.
Cleanse me with hyssop and Iwill be clean.
Wash me and I will be whiterthan snow.
(32:44):
Let me hear joy and gladness,so the bones you crush may
rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins andblot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, oGod, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
Do not cast me out from yourpresence.
Take not your spirit from me.
(33:04):
Restore to me the joy of yoursalvation and sustain me with a
willing spirit.
Then will I teach transgressorsyour ways and sinners will
return to you.
Deliver me from blood guilt, oGod, god of my salvation.
Then my tongue will sing forjoy of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips and mymouth will declare your praise,
(33:26):
for you would not delight insacrifice or I would not give it
, nor be pleased by burntofferings.
The sacrifices of God are abroken spirit.
(33:57):
You see, david has just given usa beautiful example of what it
what it means to have a true,contrite heart, and he really
walks us through the ABCs ofsalvation that we, as parents,
try to teach our children sothat they can come to know Jesus
as the Lord and accept him inhis heart.
David admitted to God.
(34:18):
He was a sinner and he repentedand he turned away from his
sins.
Jesus believed in God.
No, jesus, david believed inGod.
Now, this is before Messiah hadcome.
But David trusted in God and heloved in God.
And if Jesus were to have comeduring the time of David, david
(34:42):
would have seen Jesus as Messiahand he would have accepted his
gift of forgiveness.
And that's what we, asbelievers in Messiah, are called
to do is to believe in Jesusand accept his gift of
forgiveness.
And he confessed his faith inGod in this Psalm.
And we are called to confessour faith in God, our Messiah,
(35:06):
redeemer, jesus.
So we are like David.
We are sinners, we makemistakes, we all sin and fall
short of the glory of God, butthrough these deep and emotional
stories that are found allthroughout scriptures, we see
(35:26):
the power of God's redeeminglove, and I pray that this is
something that you can take tofeel comfort and to feel bold
and brave in teaching your kidsthrough these hard stories so
that they can truly come to knowwho our Lord Messiah is.
(35:48):
This is Alexis Heaslip fromProverbs 31 Wannabe.
I hope you loved today'sepisode.
I hope you loved today'sepisode.
If you loved today's episode,could you please give us a
review wherever you're listeningto podcasts, and a like?
We would love if you found uson social media, on Instagram,
on Facebook, proverbs 31 Wannabe.
(36:09):
We would love to hear from youUntil next time.
This is Alexis Heaslip.
I hope you have a fantasticrest of your day, god bless.
Bye now.
Hi there and welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe.
I'm Alexis Heaslip and I amstriving and praying to be a
Proverbs 31 woman of faith.
I am so excited to be backagain with you guys and I have
decided, after praying about itand having a little Holy Spirit
(00:27):
moment this past week, to coversomething that, as a mom and as
a Sunday school teacher,something that's really been put
on my heart, and that is how toapproach stories in the Bible
that are really hard, that arereally can sometimes be explicit
(00:48):
, and how to teach them to ourchildren in a way that is
appropriate and impactful.
So buckle up.
This episode's going to beexciting and thought-provoking
and I hope you guys enjoy thisjourney with me.
Today.
Let's dive on in.
(01:12):
So, in starting this discussion,the first part of this
discussion that I really thinkis important is we need to talk
about and recognize that theBible is the word of God.
It is powerful, it is active,it is sharper than a two-edged
(01:34):
sword, and the whole Bible, notjust the fun stories, the whole
Bible, from genesis 1 torevelation, is important and it
is something that we should beteaching our children.
It is the word of god and it weare called as parents who want
(02:01):
our children to know the lord,we are called in Deuteronomy 6,
4 through 9, to teach the wordof God to our children, day and
night, when we're on the road,when we lie down, when we get up
.
It is our duty, it is our greatcommission as parents to teach
our children the word of God,and that means the whole word of
(02:23):
God, not just the stories thatwe like, like David fighting
Goliath, or like Noah in the ark, or like the amazing parables
of Jesus.
It's so much more than that.
Our duty is to use the word ofGod to show why we, as people,
need a savior, because we areall sinners who make mistakes.
(02:47):
So I'm going to be using a Biblestory as an example throughout
today's podcast.
That's really hard, even foradults to talk about because
it's uncomfortable.
However, god's Worduncomfortable.
(03:10):
However, god's word issomething that we can learn so
much from, and I'm gonna discussthe why.
So why should we not ignore thehard and difficult stories,
like the story of Sodom andGomorrah, like the story of how
there's just so many, like thewhole story of judges?
(03:31):
That whole book of the Biblecould be an HBO explicit show.
Let's get real.
Another example there's just somany of how the Israelites
rebelled over and over again inthe desert and built a golden
calf and held an orgy.
(03:52):
Okay, also, there's otherexamples throughout scripture
and first and second Kings, andsome of these Kings of Israel
did some pretty ratchet things,all right, but, but over and
over again, we see how God usesour human brokenness and shows
(04:20):
the reality of our humanbrokenness through these true
and hard stories in the Bible,so that we can learn that we
cannot do life on our own.
And that is my first point.
These hard but true stories inthe Bible are really important
(04:42):
because it shows the reality ofhuman brokenness.
And this is something our kidsneed.
All right, our kids need toknow that they are not perfect.
Our kids need to be humbled.
Our kids need to learn thateven these amazing characters in
the Bible, that even theseamazing characters in the Bible,
(05:03):
like Noah, like David, likeMoses, they were just people.
And, trust me, if you open upthe word of God and just read
for even a couple of verses, youwill quickly see they made some
big mistakes, Just like you andI do every single day, and they
(05:30):
sinned, just like you and I sin.
And these hard stories, thesehard, true stories of people
that we look up to in the.
They can help our kidsunderstand just how sin is in
(05:51):
every part of our life and thedepth of sin and why we need
grace from our redeeming God.
We can't shy away from thesestories, we can't.
We can't shy away from thesestories, we can't.
I have seen firsthand, as aSunday school teacher and
someone who's wanting to be ateacher and someone who's worked
(06:12):
in a classroom of the realityof parents not telling their
children no and the reality ofparents not disciplining their
children and just telling theirchildren oh you're just so
perfect.
Oh, they're just so perfect.
Oh, they just have a spicypersonality without any
consequences.
I've seen what that's like andthe way that children behave
(06:37):
when there are no consequences,when they're not getting told no
, when they're not givenexamples of why you shouldn't do
something, and it's horrifying.
It's horrifying.
I'm sure if you have a friendwho's a teacher, you've heard
some horrific stories ofclassroom behavior, management,
(07:01):
of how children are acting wildand it's because parents are
failing at discipling their kids.
Okay, that's the root of it.
Parents are failing atdisciplining their kids.
Parents are failing atdiscipling their kids, and
that's why I feel like it's soimportant that we talk about why
we should not ignore theseBible stories and why
(07:23):
discipleship begins in the home.
And this really leads to.
My second point is that kidsneed examples of the
consequences of sin.
Kids really need these examplesof consequences of our sin,
whether that is from people'smistakes that we see in the
(07:44):
Bible who are in the list ofheroes of the faith, or whether
that's from us coming to our ownchildren when we make mistakes
and saying I've messed up andthese are the consequences for
my own actions.
And this is why it's soimportant that we have these
discussions with our children.
(08:04):
It's so important that we havethese discussions with our
children and we need to tellthem and demonstrate to them
through our own actions andthrough teaching them the
stories in the Bible that ourfree will choices because we get
to make choices God does notmake us like robots where he
controls our actions.
We have the free will to chooseto follow him or to disobey,
(08:28):
but we need to set the examplethat our free will choices have
big and real consequences.
That is important and I fearthat many kids are not being
discipled in this biblical truthand that's scary.
The third point I want to makeIs that when we look at big mess
(08:52):
ups in the Bible and, like Isaid, there's a lot of them,
there's so many of them itreinforces the message of God's
amazing grace and redemption.
And what really sparked me onthis journey this week is my
(09:15):
Sunday school lesson, for thisSunday is on a story that's
really hard, and we've beentalking about David and how
David was a man after God's ownheart and how he loved the Lord
and he was a great and mightyking.
But this Sunday in my Sundayschool class and my kindergarten
(09:36):
Sunday school class, we aregoing to be talking about
David's choice to sin today andhurt Bathsheba and Uriah and get
him killed, and how he onlyrepented after God called him
out through the prophet Nathan.
(09:57):
And boy oh boy, is that a hardmoment in the Bible to discuss.
But it is so important becausetime and time again in the Bible
we see beautiful outcomesthrough imperfect people.
(10:18):
And although David, he did somehorrible things, horrible
things, things he had truerepentance after being rebuked
(10:38):
and he was restored.
And it is a beautiful moment toreflect and thank God and get
on our knees in thanksgiving andpraise because God's mercy and
forgiveness.
It doesn't ever stop if youseek it and ask for it, and he
will forgive the greatest ofsins, and that's why we cannot
(11:00):
shy away from these hard butimportant stories.
No sin is too big for God toforgive, as seen through the
life of so many of our heroesthroughout the Bible.
My fourth point is this Is thatwhen we go and are not shy with
(11:25):
our children about thesedifficult passages in scripture,
we help them developdiscernment and critical
thinking skills.
I don't know about you guys,but with the rise of AI, with
(11:49):
the rise of our kids havingaccess to all the information in
the world at their fingertips,whether they have a smartphone
which my kids will not begetting anytime soon or an iPad,
or have access to their parentsbeing able to look up
information, access to theirparents being able to look up
(12:14):
information there's a lack andit's for adults too of critical
thinking and discernmentnowadays, and that's something
that is not natural to us.
We have to be taught how todiscern.
We have to be taught how tothink critically, discern, we
have to be taught how to thinkcritically, and these are tools
that you can use in all aspectsof life.
And what better way to do thatthan through the word of God?
(12:38):
And with the word of God oursense of morality is shaped, our
sense of human dignity andworth is shaped.
Everything that matters comesfrom the word of God, and it is
through learning the word of Godthat our children can learn and
(13:00):
know what is right and what iswrong.
So that way, when they go outinto the world and the world is
telling them that yes means noand no means yes, they can be
critical thinkers who know thetruth and speak the truth back
to the world of darkness andlove.
And their brains can startchurning over these ideas
(13:24):
starting at a young age.
Because guess what?
Kids are way smarter than whatwe give them credit for and they
ask some amazing questions.
I get some amazing questions inmy Sunday school group and I've
had some amazing questions whenI was at Vacation Bible School
teaching.
(13:45):
Kids really do think morecritically than what we give
them credit for.
They're not just thinking aboutice cream and rocks and what to
do next outdoors.
They have some deep thoughtsand some big, important
questions, like one little girlasked me at Vacation Bible
(14:07):
School how can God be everywhereat once?
That's an amazing criticalthinking question, and when kids
ask these type of questions andfeel like they're in a safe
environment to be able to askthese questions, they can be
asking all sorts of questionslike what is right versus wrong?
(14:28):
What does the bible say aboutthat?
What does the bible say aboutjustice and forgiveness and
personal accountability?
These are all the types ofquestions or like why, why do
people choose to go to hell?
Why do people not believe ingod there?
These are the questions I'vehad asked by five-year-olds okay
(14:50):
, by five and six-year-olds Kids.
When given the opportunity andwhen they feel safe, they ask a
lot of really amazing andpowerful questions and this
prepares them for these realworld issues that they will
unfortunately experience or havealready experienced.
(15:14):
It will prepare them for realworld issues like death or
divorce or losing a friend or aloved one.
It will prepare them for timesin life where they're being told
that a girl can be a boy and aboy can be a girl, and if you
want to say you're a cat, youcan say you're a cat.
(15:34):
That is the world we are livingin, that is the world our
children are living in, and whenwe give them the space to learn
about what the word of God sayswhen we sin against him and how
God does judge, but he alsoshows mercy.
They will be prepared.
They will be prepared to answerthese deep questions and to
(16:02):
defend the word of God withsincere hearts, hearts.
And the last point I wanted tomake before putting this into
action is that by going throughthese hard but important
passages throughout scripture,it will strengthen their trust
(16:24):
in the word of God, inscriptures themselves, and it
shows us, all of us, that theword of God is reliable and is
the truth.
Transparency means trust andauthenticity.
If the word of God, if theBible, just wanted to make
(16:47):
itself look good, they wouldjust include all the stories
about how David fought a giant,how Moses parted the Red Sea,
how Noah built an ark, but leaveout the rest of the yuck.
They wouldn't have included.
People wouldn't have includedin the Bible how Mary and Joseph
weren't married.
They wouldn't have includedthings like Jesus dying on the
(17:13):
cross.
No, none of these things wouldhave been included.
They would not have includedhow Israel was carried off into
exile.
But because all of the humanityand the sin is included, we can
see how our God is a God ofconsistent mercy and love.
(17:37):
Yes, he uses justice, he is ajust God, but he is a consistent
God who loves us and wants usto be in relation with him,
loves us and wants us to be inrelation with him.
And by going through the yuckand the human travesty and their
(17:58):
hard-heartedness stories, wecan see how our God is a God of
truth and redemption.
And now we're going to pivot.
And now we're going to pivot,now that we've talked about why
(18:27):
it's important to talk about onDavid and Bathsheba, we're going
to be talking and using thatmoment in scripture as our
example, and so, if you're notfamiliar with the story, it can
be found in 2 Samuel, 11 and 12,as well as Psalm 51.
(18:48):
I'm not going to read all thepassages, but I'll give you the
Cliff Notes version.
David was king of Israel and hewas a mighty king, and every
year the kings would go out andfight each other for land and
for property, and instead ofDavid being and doing the things
(19:09):
that kings do, he had stayedbehind in Jerusalem.
So, problem number one, he wasnot doing his job.
Problem number two, he hadspotted Bathsheba, a beautiful
woman who was married to one ofDavid's generals, uriah and he
had Uriah and he had peepingTommy Lee been watching her
(19:34):
bathe and he forced his guardsto go get her and bring her to
him and have sex with her.
All right, whether Beth Shebawanted to come is up for debate.
I I don't think so.
I really don't think she wantedto.
She was forced to by guards andthen, and then finds out she's
(19:57):
pregnant, oh no.
So David tries to get Uriah tocome back to Jerusalem because
he, uriah, has been noble andbeen fighting the battles, like,
like he was supposed to.
And he told him no, no, no, Ihave to stay with my men.
And David kept insisting Uriahwould come back and he wouldn
him.
No, no, no, I have to stay withmy men.
(20:17):
And david kept insisting uriahwould come back and he wouldn't
do it.
So david, strike three alreadydoes something horrific.
He makes sure that uriah is onthe front lines so that he will
get killed in battle and he dies.
And then he marries Bathshebaand she's pregnant.
(20:40):
But God sends the prophet Nathanto David to tell him a story
about a sheep and how the sheepwas mistreated.
And David got all upset sayingyou can't do that, that that
person should get in trouble andNathan's like well, I hate to
break it to you, but you're theperson in that story who has
(21:03):
stolen the sheep.
And David truly does repent.
But God, being a God of justice, told him look, your child's
going to be born but not survive.
And David's son died and Davidwept and mourned but then had a
(21:26):
repentant and contrite heart andcried out to God and he was
truly repentant and he wasforgiven.
And he was forgiven.
And this really dark moment inhis life is what, uh?
Is what inspired him to writePsalm 51, which is a really
famous Psalm.
You know um part of the Psalmsays create in me a clean heart,
(21:49):
oh God.
And it's a really powerful song, psalm that I might read at the
end, and it talks aboutforgiveness and begging for
forgiveness.
So that's the little CliffNotes version of the story.
But how do you go about tellinga really dark story like this to
(22:16):
kids?
Do you go about it?
The first thing that you reallyneed to consider when talking
about an important but hard anddark story like this that's
found in the bible, dark storylike this that's found in the
(22:42):
Bible is to find a way to firstof all, know the age of your
children that you're going to betalking to and start with
language that is appropriate forthe child's age right.
Find a way to frame the storyin a way that highlights the
moral and spiritual lesson,without necessarily using
(23:03):
graphic details.
We don't have to say that Davidassaulted Bathsheba sexually.
We can say that David madeBathsheba come to him against
her will, but we don't have tosay that he sexually assaulted
her.
We don't have to say that.
(23:25):
So there's ways to go about it.
When they're younger especially,especially like when I'm
talking to my kindergartners,I'm just going to make a point
of saying that David broughtBathsheba to his palace and she
didn't want to go right.
That's one way we can start andas they get older, you can
(23:46):
explore more into the nittygritty, right.
So focus on themes rather thanexplicit content.
We can highlight, especiallywith younger children, like
elementary age, how David wasdisobedient.
(24:08):
We can highlight hisdisobedience.
We can talk about theconsequences of his actions and
how Uriah died because of hisactions.
We can talk about repentance,what that means and forgiveness.
Because, like I said, we don'thave to use the explicit details
(24:29):
.
We don't have to go into fulldetail, but we can still talk
about these key ideas Becausechildren understand what
disobedience is and consequencesand as they get older, we can
go further into the details,because as they get older and
more mature, they willunderstand and see and maybe
(24:55):
have lived through a parentgoing through an affair, a
parent going through a divorce,and they will be able to relate
to the content as they get older.
Like I said, you just have toknow the kids you're talking to
and the language that you feelis appropriate for them and the
(25:17):
language that you feel isappropriate for them.
And the third thing that youcan do is you can use these
stories to highlight God'scharacter.
You can point to God's justice,how God is a God of justice,
(25:43):
how God is a God of mercy and aGod of forgiveness.
God loved David, but that lovedoesn't change the fact that
David sinned.
But even though it made God sadand David was punished for his
sin, god showed him mercy andlove through compassion Once
(26:04):
David came back to God inrepentance.
And that is something that wecan really emphasize in this
moment that our God is a God whois waiting, always with open
arms, and he wants us to alwayscome to him, no matter what
(26:25):
we've done and that is somethingyou could really drive home
with your kids.
And the fourth thing that youcan do is take a moment during
your lesson whether this is athome and you're just reading
through the Bible with your kids, whether you teach at a
Christian school and you teachBible as part of your curriculum
(26:47):
, or a homeschooling parent.
Invite the kids to an opendialogue and let them process
what they've learned, let themask questions, let them move
along the conversation and letthem wrestle with what they're
learning.
Let them guide the conversation.
(27:11):
It is amazing how many times achild has brought up something
when we've gone over a Biblestory, and it's something I
would have never even thoughtabout.
Jesus literally says in thegospel let the children come to
me, and he wants us to have achildlike faith.
And if you have kids, you knowthey are full of questions and
(27:35):
ideas and they are curious andthey want to learn and they want
to please and they areresilient little buggers, and
that's how Jesus wants all of usto be when coming to him.
And although, like I said,these are hard stories, the
(27:59):
children really do get it.
They really do get it and eventhough, like I said, some of
these stories are hard.
They're hard and they'repainful, but they can connect
these biblical truths to theirlives.
Unfortunately, we live in aworld in the United States where
(28:22):
50% of marriages end in divorceand the kids are extremely
impacted by that.
It doesn't matter whether youthink or not, the kids are
deeply impacted by that andthere could be children in your
(28:43):
classroom, in your Sunday schoolclass, in your neighborhood, in
your community that have gonethrough a moment in their
personal life where their familyhas been ripped apart by
infidelity.
And this is a moment where theycan see how our God is a
(29:04):
merciful God who loves anyonewho comes and he loves everyone,
and that this sin is.
It breaks god's heart, ittotally breaks god's heart, but
it can be forgiven.
It also shows them theimportance of integrity and of
(29:27):
telling the truth, because youractions have consequences.
And it also shows the kids theimportance of owning up to their
mistakes and not crying wolfand not trying to blame others.
(29:53):
No one likes to be friends witha liar.
No one likes to be friends witha liar.
No one likes to be aroundsomeone who cries wolf all the
time, because if you continue tocry wolf just like the story of
the boy who cried wolf.
If you keep lying over and overagain, one day people aren't
(30:14):
going to come and help youanymore, because they just don't
believe you.
So these are just some waysthat kids can really connect to
a story that you, as an adult,might think is so hard.
But there are some beautifultruths to be found, truths to be
(30:43):
found, and the last thing thatwe can do with these hard
stories is to pray through thestory together and look at how
the people in the story turn toGod in their moments of defeat,
in their moments of failure andtheir moments of darkness.
And that is what I'm reallyexcited to do on Sunday with my
kids.
And we're going to be able tosee how, through David's
(31:08):
realization that he sinned, hecalled out to God in repentance
and praised the Lord and askedGod to be gracious and
compassionate to him.
So I want to end this byreading Psalm 51 together.
So if you'll turn with me,let's turn to Psalm 51.
(31:31):
So we can just like our kidswhen we are talking to them and
teaching them about the word ofGod.
We can learn what it means toturn to God and ask for help
when we mess up all right.
(32:02):
Psalm 51 for the music director,a psalm of David when Nathan
the prophet came to him after hewent to Bathsheba.
For I know my transgressionsand my sin is ever before me.
Against you you only.
Have I sinned and done what isevil in your sight, so that you
(32:23):
are just when you speak andblameless when you judge?
Behold, I was born in iniquityand in sin when my mother
conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in theinner being.
Make me know wisdom inwardly.
Cleanse me with hyssop and Iwill be clean.
Wash me and I will be whiterthan snow.
(32:44):
Let me hear joy and gladness,so the bones you crush may
rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins andblot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, oGod, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
Do not cast me out from yourpresence.
Take not your spirit from me.
(33:04):
Restore to me the joy of yoursalvation and sustain me with a
willing spirit.
Then will I teach transgressorsyour ways and sinners will
return to you.
Deliver me from blood guilt, oGod, god of my salvation.
Then my tongue will sing forjoy of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips and mymouth will declare your praise,
(33:26):
for you would not delight insacrifice or I would not give it
, nor be pleased by burntofferings.
The sacrifices of God are abroken spirit.
(33:57):
You see, david has just given usa beautiful example of what it
what it means to have a true,contrite heart, and he really
walks us through the ABCs ofsalvation that we, as parents,
try to teach our children sothat they can come to know Jesus
as the Lord and accept him inhis heart.
David admitted to God.
(34:18):
He was a sinner and he repentedand he turned away from his
sins.
Jesus believed in God.
No, jesus, david believed inGod.
Now, this is before Messiah hadcome.
But David trusted in God and heloved in God.
And if Jesus were to have comeduring the time of David, david
(34:42):
would have seen Jesus as Messiahand he would have accepted his
gift of forgiveness.
And that's what we, asbelievers in Messiah, are called
to do is to believe in Jesusand accept his gift of
forgiveness.
And he confessed his faith inGod in this Psalm.
And we are called to confessour faith in God, our Messiah,
(35:06):
redeemer, jesus.
So we are like David.
We are sinners, we makemistakes, we all sin and fall
short of the glory of God, butthrough these deep and emotional
stories that are found allthroughout scriptures, we see
(35:26):
the power of God's redeeminglove, and I pray that this is
something that you can take tofeel comfort and to feel bold
and brave in teaching your kidsthrough these hard stories so
that they can truly come to knowwho our Lord Messiah is.
(35:48):
This is Alexis Heaslip fromProverbs 31 Wannabe.
I hope you loved today'sepisode.
I hope you loved today'sepisode.
If you loved today's episode,could you please give us a
review wherever you're listeningto podcasts, and a like?
We would love if you found uson social media, on Instagram,
on Facebook, proverbs 31 Wannabe.
(36:09):
We would love to hear from youUntil next time.
This is Alexis Heaslip.
I hope you have a fantasticrest of your day, god bless.
Bye now.
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