Growing up, I remember listening to Bible stories at home, school and church. I was taught that every story had an important lesson to learn. We had to figure out what the moral of the story was and memorize the key verse. Somehow my young brain processed this as something that should be taken seriously. I had to be strong, I had to be patient, I had to love my neighbors, I had to be the good samaritan etc… This really helped shaped my values and I remember how my Children’s Bible really helped me get to know the characters of Christianity. For me, the more Bible facts you knew, the more verses you memorized, the more moral lesson you were able to pick up made you a good kid. As I look back, I realize that there was so much more than just stories with lessons. Don’t get me wrong, it did help me a lot but I wish as a kid I encountered something at a more personal level.
I recently came across Teach Children the Bible is Not About Them and I realized, she was describing how I viewed the Bible growing up. The Bible is such a wonderful and powerful book about love but we often miss the real message. The article was written by Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of The Jesus Storybook Bible, which, coincidentally (or maybe not), I recently bought for the kids of my friend. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the book and had to see for myself. So I started reading it and despite its simplicity, I cannot help but experience the depth of a great love. Every story points to Jesus and His love. In addition, the illustrations and artwork are excellent! It made me want to get a copy for all the kids I knew and made me wish I had such powerful material when I was a kid.
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