Six Biblical Truths for Preschoolers

Melissa Edgington is a pastor's wife who writes about life with kids while living with kids—and that's quite a challenge for any mom! I appreciate her wisdom about family life; and in this post, she shares a Parenting Upgrade about preschoolers.

“Preschoolers can understand much deeper biblical concepts than we think," Melissa says. "The earlier we lay solid biblical foundations, the better."

I [Dawn] was blessed to serve in a revival ministry during my children's preschool years, and I know the blessing and power of teaching biblical truth early. The world will try to squeeze our children into its mold. We've got to start early!

Melissa continues:

I've compiled a list of six important truths we should be sure to teach our preschoolers.”

1.  The Bible is God’s special book (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119:105).

Preschoolers can learn from an early age that the Bible is not like other books. We can teach them that the Bible comes from God and teaches us important things about Him. We can open the pages of the Bible and let them touch it, so that they learn young that the Bible is for them, too.  

When we talk about the Bible in these terms, we’re reinforcing the fact that the Bible is true and is the authority for our lives.

2.  You and I are sinners (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10).

Children already know that they do things they shouldn’t. But, we can put their bad behavior in different terms by talking about what sin is and why it matters to God.  

Our church’s preschool teachers say: Sin is anything we think, say, or do that breaks God’s law.  

3.  Jesus died on a cross and came back to life (1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

This concept is one that we often debate in our minds.  Are we doing wrong when we tell our three-year-old a story that’s, well, let’s face it, bloody? 

At this age, we can simply talk about how Jesus is God’s Son, how He died for us on a cross, and then God raised Him from the dead. It’s good for them to know the basic facts of what happened, even before they really understand the significance of what Jesus was doing on the cross that day.  

4.  The Bible is one big story (Genesis 3:14-15).

This is a concept many adults have never even been taught. But, it’s important for our children to understand that, even though we tend to study the Bible in small chunks (stories) on Sunday mornings, all of those smaller stories link together to form one big story of God’s great love, saving us from our sin through Jesus.  

I recommend reading The Big Picture Story Book Bible with your children. It does a fantastic job of showing how Jesus is all over the Old Testament, too. It helps kids to get the “big picture” of God’s redemption plan.

5.  Heaven is for real (John 14:3-4). 

Because the Bible says so. And Hell is for real, too. We can talk in basic terms with our preschoolers about how Heaven is the place where we can go to be with God someday. It can be helpful to talk about Heaven in terms of someone you know who has passed away.  

Most importantly, we should make sure that the kids know that doing good things doesn’t get you to Heaven. There is only one way to Heaven, and that way is believing in Jesus.

6.  God keeps His promises (Deuteronomy 7:9). 

Even our very youngest charges can understand the idea that God is good and He tells the truth. God follows through. When He promised He would send a redeemer, He did it.  

And, we can trust His other promises, knowing that God is “working all things together for the good of those who love Him."

When we teach our preschoolers well, we help them combat the wrong thinking that will come their way. It’s never too early to lead our babies to the truth.

Do you have preschoolers? What is your biggest challenge in teaching them the truth of scripture? How has God blessed you (and them) in teaching them biblical truth?

Melissa Edgington is a pastor’s wife and mom of three young children. She writes about motherhood and the Christian life at Your Mom Has a Blog.