How To Teach Kids True Repentance

When children make a mistake, especially when they do hurt others, most parents would agree that it is critical for children to learn true repentance and feel guilty for their actions.

Many parents settle for the appearance of repentance, a quick, hasty, and superficial "Sorry." This method does not teach children to truly repent. It merely teaches kids that they can "resolve" a disagreement by going through the motions or speaking the magic words even though their hearts are not in it. This actually hardens hearts to true repentance.

In this video, founders Jim & Lynne Jackson provide helpful illustrations to help parents Teach Their Children True Repentance.
00:07 - Reconciliation of the Child to God Repentance
The author utilized two hands clasped together to represent man's relationship formed by God, but when people sin against each other, hurting each other will cause the hands to part, which signifies breaking fellowship with God.
God will not leave; rather, He still remains and waits for people to repent and return to Him. God will not leave or reject a man because of a mistake.

01:18 - True Reconciliation
Repentance should be modeled by parents for their children. For instance, after battling with their children, parents should pray loudly, ask for forgiveness, and then give it to God and go to the Lord. Even a simple prayer can help a kid understand the importance of repentance.

01:52 - Praying Out Loud
"... as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12
Misbehavior is a great opportunity for teaching children the truth and encourages true heartfelt reconciliation. What a great thing it is when we can recognize our error, say sorry, and then discard or get rid of it.
Teaching Kids True Repentance helps kids understand how to repent and positively affects various other areas of life, such as dealing with temptation, conflict resolution, and relationships even though our children might make mistakes, learning how to repent and seek forgiveness is truly a must-know lesson.

If your child has yet to express faith in God, as soon as they know how to repent and forgive, they will know the existence of God's love.