Grandkids can get themselves into trouble if they don’t know how to make wise choices. You can help your grandkids learn to make wise choices with these simple steps.
Have you thought much about foolishness lately?
If you’ve been around your grandkids you probably have. Kids are great at being foolish.
- They jump on the couch until somebody bangs their chin on the coffee table.
- They dump out all the toys and then grumble about cleaning them up.
- They listen to friends who are telling them to do something they know isn’t right.
- They really want to do something even though it’s an impossibly bad idea.
Childish is foolishness. It’s not knowing how to make the wise choice.
Two of our adult children, Amy and Scott, like to say when their kids do something that kids do, “That’s so childish.” It helps them remember that the children are just learning.
They’re on the journey from foolishness to wisdom.
It’s the job of parents to help their children move a little more each day from childish to grown up, from foolish to wise.
Grandparents can help.
Help your Grandkids Learn to Make Wise Choices
Proverbs has a lot to say about what happens when children don’t grow out of childishness. They’re called fools when they’re adults. And the outlook for them isn’t good.
The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin. Proverbs 10:8 NIV
A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the Lord. Proverbs 19:3 CSB
But there’s hope. Everyone can learn more about wisdom a little each day.
3 Ways to Help your Grandchildren Learn to Make Wise Choices
1. Pray for them to grow in wisdom.
Pick one of these verses and pray it over your grandkids.
The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. Proverbs 12:15
The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 13:20 CSB
Insight is a fountain of life for its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly. Proverbs 16:22 CSB
2. Teach them the Parable of the Two Builders.
If your grandkids are preschoolers or early elementary, talk with them about the parable about building a house on the rock or on the sand. It’s in Matthew 7:24-26:
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
The context is that these verses conclude the Sermon on the Mount. The “therefore” that begins this passage means that these few verses are the summary of the sermon on the Mount.
Here’s the principle for your grandkids:
Wisely, build your life on Jesus, the Rock, and you will withstand the storms of life. Foolishly, don’t follow Jesus, build your life on sand, and suffer the consequences.
You can find the old Bible song (with motions), videos of the Bible story, and how to talk about it as a science experiement or object lesson on YouTube.
3. Help them learn to recognize wisdom and foolishness.
If they’re little and you spot wisdom or foolishness in a story you’re reading to them, ask them if that was a good idea or not.
If they’re older, use teachable moments from the people in the news, or the people around them, to understand how wisdom works out better for them than foolishness.
Help them define and understand both wisdom and foolishness. Help them want to make the wise choice.
You’ve seen how foolish decisions, going down reckless paths, can bring heartache. Continue to grow in our own wisdom, and to build wisdom in your grandchildren.
To recap, here is how to help your grandkids make wise choices:
- Pray for them to grow in wisdom.
- Teach them the parable of the two builders.
- Use teachable moments to help them learn to recognize wisdom and foolishness.
