Look To God's Word To Help Our Children With Loss

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:3-7

Suffering grief in all kinds of trials is hard. It is deep. It is often very lonely because suffering happens when something is taken away from us. Maybe it is a toddler grabbing another toddler’s toy. Maybe our health or our wealth is being taken from us. Maybe it is an injustice done at work or by a government. Maybe someone we love has been taken from us. Maybe a child in a school room is being made fun of as his reputation is being taken from him.

God wants us to know that whatever we lose – he is giving us something better. Suffering is a time when the Spirit brings us to the end of ourselves and we marvel at the unfailing love of Jesus for us.  Jesus gave it all up for us. He became flesh, died as a criminal though he never committed one sin, all to save us. And he rose three days later from the dead. We have his inheritance as a child of God! We have access to God the Father as our Abba Father now and forever.

Everything in our parents' hearts want to prevent our children from suffering, but we see them suffer small and large losses throughout their lives. The best thing we can do for them is give them Gods’ promises. Here are some ideas to take in the 1 Peter passage. Add your own ideas.

Strategies to use this promise to help our children:

Read 1 Peter 1:2-9 together as a family.

Share trials that each member of the family is suffering.

Find the places in these verses that talk about Jesus’ love for your family.

Share times that God’s power moved you from trusting in what you have on this earth to trusting in Jesus’s death and resurrection that saved you. 

Talk about what it means that we have an inheritance kept in heaven for us.

Praise God in prayer for what you have received from him.