How do I teach my kids right when their friends believe differently?

[Josie39]

I have been trying to lead my kids in the right path to Christ. During Halloween I told my two daughters who are 4 and 6 that we cannot dress up because Halloween has become a cult and it’s not a holy celebration. Of course, they don’t understand very much, but they have been dealing with it very well. My younger daughter told her friend that if she loves Jesus she cannot celebrate Halloween, because you can’t love Jesus and Halloween at the same time. The same happened with Christmas. I have been telling them that Santa Claus is not magic person like the TV portrays him but that Jesus is for real. So my daughter has been arguing with her friends because her friends believe in Santa Claus and my kids believe in Jesus. So how can I teach my kids the right way on how to deal with all the celebrations and with their friends who have different beliefs?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

You seem to have two problems here: The first is that apparently you have been teaching your children in absolutes on issues that are open to personal freedom. Good Christians can disagree over whether or not to allow their children to dress up for Halloween and to believe in Santa. Someone who allows a child to wear a costume or write a letter to Santa does not necessarily love Jesus any less or believe in Jesus any less than you do. If you think it is best for your family, you are free to avoid such cultural traditions, but you should be careful to avoid giving your children the impression that Halloween is a “cult” and that “bad Christians” believe Santa is a “magic person.”

The second problem is that you have neglected to teach your children that they should not use the information you give them to spoil other children’s fun or to disabuse them of innocent beliefs. It is for those children’s parents to enlighten their own children, not for you or your children. So, in addition to teaching your children that your family celebrates holidays differently than do their friends, you should also be instructing them that they are not to ruin their friends’ holidays by telling them that the way they celebrate is “wrong” (much less that their celebrations mean that they must not love Jesus).