Top Posts from 2014 - The Truth vs Lies

Today I'm happy to share with you another of my Top Posts from 2014 . . . 

While there are certainly many essential things we need to teach the children in ourministries; there is one thing we do not tend to teach them which our failure to do so can leave them vulnerable to being deceived. What is this, "thing", you ask? Simply put; it is the truth of how the Devil is a liar.
Why is this an essential thing for us to teach the children in our ministries? Simply put; because children are so easily deceived by this Liar. The world is full of the Devil's lies; for example, so many children's books, movies and games involve magic. It is a lie from the Devil that this magic is something which would make our lives better, more interesting, fun and powerful. The truth is God is the One Who gives us better lives, makes them more interesting fun and true power comes from Him. However; far too often this message is not given to children, so they are deceived by the Liar to think they will find what they want apart from God.

So, how do we teach children to recognize lies from the Devil and identify the truth from God? One way we can do this is by naming them. For example; if you were teaching the Bible account of Zacchaeus, you could say, "Zacchaeus knew stealing from others was wrong. He knew the people in his town did not like him. Do you think it was possible he might have thought he was just too 'bad'; he just did too many terrible things to ever change or for Jesus to want to talk to him? He might have thought these things; the people in his town may have thought these things, too, but while he did do terrible things, he was not too 'bad' for Jesus to want to talk to him! It was a lie from the Devil because the truth was Jesus loved Zacchaeus! Jesus stopped to talk to Zacchaeus! Jesus not only stopped to talk to Zacchaeus, but He also went to his house for lunch! And the truth was Zacchaeus did change! When he experienced the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus, Zacchaeus became a new person! He did not steal from others any longer; in fact, he gave back more than he stole from the people in his town! His life changed and the truth is our lives change when we experience the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus, too! The Devil wants us to think we did too many bad things and can never change, but that is a lie. It is not the truth. The truth is Jesus loves us and He absolutely will forgive everything we have done and He will change our lives and fill them with joy!"
This is just one example of how we can name the lies and identify the truth. We also need to be paying attention so we can help children see the lies and identify the truth as they live their day-in-day-out lives. Consider some of the following lies from the Devil vs the truth from God . . . 

• It is a lie to think we will be happy if we are first . . . it is the truth we will be happy if we serve others

• It is a lie to think we will be happy if we have more things . . . it is the truth we will be happy and have joy if we are thankful for what we have and share with others

• It is a lie to think we will find power and fulfillment from this world . . . it is the truth we will find power and fulfillment from God

• It is a lie to think our lives will be better if we do what we want . . . it is the truth we will have better lives, filled with joy and peace if we listen to and obey God

This list could go on and on, but the idea is we need to make it a priority to help children name the lies from the Devil and identify the truth from God, because if children learn to do this, they will not be deceived and will be able to know and walk with God!
What can you do to help children name the Devil's lies and identify the Truth which is from God?