Why Christian parents need to talk to their children about sin this Easter

Anna Hawken from Parenting for Faith encourages parents to rediscover how talking about sin and forgiveness can bring new life to households and help kids see the gospel’s transforming power all year round

At the heart of the Easter story is a simple but transforming truth: Christ died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. But behind that, are many deep questions - why the cross? Why the resurrection? How does this impact our lives?

As Christians, we and our kids have probably heard the gospel message, that we need saving, many times. With that familiarity, it can be easy to miss the beauty and subtlety of what Jesus’ death and resurrection mean. The great news and freedom that the Easter story brings should affect us every day, but sometimes we forget just how powerful it is. To properly understand the Easter story and the gospel truth within it, we need to zoom out and look at the big picture of the story of the whole Bible.

We can avoid talking about sin - perhaps because we are scared of over emphasising it

When we do zoom out it is difficult to avoid the issue of sin. In a culture where 1 in 4 of us struggle with our mental health, it can be a challenge to talk about sin, but it is essential that we do if we’re going to understand and experience the wonder of the full story.

The danger of over or under-emphasising sin

Our culture teaches us that we are the authors of our own destiny - to think about ourselves and do what ‘feels right’. Sin isn’t a word we ……