How do I talk to my children about gender and gender identity?

A friend of mine recently preached on gender. He found that all the parents wanted their teenagers in the sermons. When it comes to gender, we know that things have moved fast and we need help.

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them (Gen 1:27).

There are two headlines in the story of our creation:

1. We are created in God’s image. We are made to relate to him.

2. We are each male or female. We are made to relate to one another.

To be male or female is who we are. It is a privilege and honour to be made male or female by our Creator. He has judged it to be significant. We can tell our children that the Lord delights in their boy-ness or their girl-ness.

Boy or Girl

Those conversations start early. Most parents have had very peculiar conversations with their young children when either parent or child or both were not wearing clothes. Our bodies have been handmade and we thank God for them as a unique gift given individually to us. We thank him for the distinctives of our gendered body, which he chose and made, wonderfully and fearfully. We can learn to share his delight in his handiwork.