I love teachable moments with our kid’s. They are amazing aren’t they!?  I don’t know about your kids but my daughter sometimes comes up with the most amazing questions that I have no idea how to really answer.   I love it most when they are questions about God.  I am excited for the day when my daughter’s faith is fully hers, and not just an extension of mine and my husbands.  My daughter’s question in the car the other night led to a discussion on the gift of free will.  She asked, “Would Adam and Eve still have sinned if Satan had not tempted Eve?”  OUCH! Big question!  Here is a simplistic way you can teach your children the gift of free will.

God’s Heart

I felt confident in my answer but struggled to find a way to put it in words that are understandable to an 11 year old girl.  It’s a hard task considering that most adults don’t get it either.  I do believe, however, with all my heart that Adam and Eve would have still sinned, regardless of Satan’s attempt to defile what God created.  And here is my reason why… the gift of free will

See God created us to have a relationship with Him!  He wanted a creation that He could love and that would love Him back.  He didn’t want someone mindless, only saying what He created them to say.  That was a hard concept for my daughter to understand when we talked about it and not because of the love part but because of those that wouldn’t love Him or love anyone else.  My daughter’s heart is that no one would ever feel pain.  And just in case you didn’t know, that is God’s heart too.

“Coming to America”

As I thought about how better to discuss this with her, a movie popped into my head.  Not a wise Christian movie, but a comedy from when I was a teenager in the 80’s.  Yep, showing my age here! 😉  The movie was “Coming To America” with Eddie Murphy.  Now a couple things before you read further.  I watched this movie on one of our three free regular TV channels at home during a time when all curse words were deleted, skipped or bleeped out along with any nudity.  So I loved the movie and to me it was funny!  It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s when I decided to buy it that I realized there was nudity right at the beginning and some words I would rather not hear.  So don’t go out and buy it unless you have a DVD player at home that bleeps all that stuff out 😉  Otherwise you will be in for a shock!

Now the scene that I remembered and discussed with my daughter is below. Please give it a view before reading any further and then the rest of my explanation will make sense.  Now, in case you haven’t seen this before here is the back story to this scene.  Eddie Murphy is a prince of a wealthy African country and wants for nothing, except for a wife who will love him regardless of his title.  His law states he must marry whoever the king has decided and in this scene he meets that girl and is less than excited with the lack of individuality of the lady and doesn’t like… what she likes! lol  So watch this short clip and then we will discuss the rest of what I shared with my daughter.

The Gift of Free Will

This princess has been trained from the moment she was born to like and desire whatever the princes likes and desires.  There is no originality of thought with her and therefore, no real love.  See, there is no love if there is no choice… only duty.  God didn’t want a creation that dutifully obeyed His every word, just waiting for Him to give a command so they could complete it.  He created us so that the LOVE would be real, that our desire to make Him happy would be real, and for that He needed to give us choices to chose between and a will to decide for themselves. The real Gift of Free Will.

Now, there is no doubt that some of the choices people make with their free will breaks His heart.  Because lets face it, our choices can be terrible, we as a people can be brutal and evil.  But the joy He gets when we truly do fall in love with Him and desire to do things His way is beyond what we could understand.  We have been given a gift.  Many people use it for what it wasn’t intended for and hurt others one one way or another. What will you do with your gift?  Will you love God and others?  Or continue to take it for granted.

Want to talk to your kids about God more?

If you want to find more information about how to talk to your kids about God, or some fun activities to use in your discussions check out Truth for Kids, Exciting Bible Truths For Kids.  They have lots of free stuff… who doesn’t like FREE!

Want to talk more with me, post below or head over to my facebook page Grace for My Journey and I would be happy to chat with you.  Happy Parenting!  How would you explain free will to your kids?